Death Becomes Him
by Shimegami-chan
Summary: Heero attempts suicide after Duo's death, but things turn for the worse when a disembodied Duo comes back for more trouble. 1x2
1. It's Never Too Late

Author's note: I was slightly disturbed to write the first two chapters of this fic and then a few hours later check Kuri's site, only to find that she had written an exceedingly similar fic...you'll understand when I mean by the sencond chapter...but, this story is not meant to infringe on any other writer's work, and if it does so, I am very sorry. (Actually, this fic is very very loosely based on a Star Wars book I once read. o.O) Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these characters. Not any of 'em. I think I need to go creativity-shopping...::sweatdrop::  
  
---------------------------  
  
Duo: Why am I not liking the title of this fanfic?  
Shi-chan: You'll like the story even less.  
Duo: It's not another lemon, is it?  
Shi-chan: I don't write lemons!  
Duo: THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID THE LAST TIME!   
Shi-chan: That wasn't a lemon.  
Duo: It was pretty damn close.  
Heero: Can we start this now? I have better things to do.  
Shi-chan: You got it.   
Duo: Nooooooo!  
Shi-chan: Anyway, this isn't a humor fic, tissue alert ahead. I hope. So shut it, Duo.  
Duo: It's a...sad fic...? Awww...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 1  
  
  
"...and he find in death the joy he found in his life, living it to the fullest." Quatre cleared his throat once more and used a hankerchief to dry the tears from his eyes. "He will be missed."  
  
The blond Arab slowly stepped back from the coffin and yielded silence once again to the small group, broken only by the slight pitter-patter of rain coating the sleek wood. //I never thought he'd be the first one of us to go.//  
  
Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei huddled close together as the confining box was lowered into the ground. //Duo.//  
  
Quatre couldn't control the hot tears spilling from his eyes. Even Wufei was crying. Trowa's expressionless face did not flinch, but Quatre could see his eyes--nothing. The emerald pools were blank and staring. he couldn't take his eyes off the dark hole in the ground, the black and red roses scattered around it, the pain on Dorothy and Hilde's faces, standing on the other side of the darkness. Quatre clutched Trowa's strong arm for support.   
  
"If Maxwell were here," Wufei mumbled under his breath, "he'd definitely make fun of us."  
  
"If only." Quatre sighed.   
  
"I'd take his taunting anytime over this." Wufei's downcast eyes seemed to bore holes in the muddy ground at his feet. "A thousand times over."  
  
Relena Peacecraft made her way slowly over to the group of pilots. "Didn't Heero come?" she asked softly.  
  
"He couldn't take it. He's still in shock." Quatre feverantly hoped that Relena wouldn't take Duo's death as a good way to get close to Heero. "He's really broken up. Duo was the onlpy person he really cared for."  
  
Relena, to her credit, didn't seem surprised. "I know. Take care of him, okay?"  
  
Trowa nodded solemnly at the woman, who turned and went to comfort her friends. Hilde didn't seem to be taking it too well, surprisingly enough even Dorothy was crying. Quatre was torn back to his last moments with Duo.  
  
/////////"Oi, Q-man...could ya get Heero for me? Onegai?"  
  
/////////Quatre shook his head. "Sorry, Duo, he just left. Why?"  
  
/////////The braided pilot coughed. "I'm not feeling so great...another headache..."  
  
/////////the Arabian looked concerned. "Another one? Anything I can do?"  
  
/////////"Nah." Duo gave his friend the patented Maxwell grin. "I'll be okay. I think maybe I'll lie down for a bit. When Heero gets back, wake me up, would ya?"  
  
/////////"Sure, Duo." Quatre's smile seemed to reassure Duo that he could count on him. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"  
  
/////////"Arigatou. You're a great friend, Quatre-kun, whatever would I do without you?"  
  
/////////The blond boy laughed. "About the same as we'd do without you, I suppose. Not much."  
  
/////////"Oi, you're the best. Thanks a lot." Duo laughed and disappeared into his room, while Quatre returned to his tea.  
  
/////////When Heero had returned and went to check on Duo, he wouldn't wake up. The concerned pilots brought Duo to the hospital where he was thoroughly checked over.  
  
/////////"I'm terribly sorry, but he's in a coma. We've managed to pinpoint the cause...there's a cancerous tumor..."  
  
/////////Quatre had turned white as a sheet. "Is it...is it fatal?"  
  
/////////The young doctor looked grim. "I'm afraid so, it's too far gone. He didn't even know about it, it spread so fast."  
  
/////////Heero seemed to have lost his mobility. "Hn."  
  
/////////"Oh, Allah." Quatre couldn't stop his limbs from shaking.  
  
/////////"I'm so sorry...he's already gone."  
  
/////////Gone.  
  
/////////Gone.  
  
  
Quatre jolted himself to awareness when the car started moving. "Trowa?"  
  
The unibanged pilot looked back from the driver's seat. "You spaced out again."  
  
"Oh, Trowa." Quatre clenched the soft seat in his hands in hopes of controlling the oncoming emotion. He cast a glance back at the graveyard. The crowd had dispersed, leaving one lone person watching Duo's grave, a tall, lean boy in black spandex shorts and a green tank top, standing alone in the rain. "Heero."  
  
The car turned down the dirt road and Quatre lost sight of the other boy, and he wondered if it had been just a mirage.   
  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
  
  
Heero stood over the fresh grave, lost in thought. //Duo...I can't beleive I'll never see you again...//  
  
The Wing pilot angrily kicked a rock so hard that it disappeared into the trees surrounding the cemetary. "Why you? Why not *me?!?*" he howled into the mist.   
  
Only bleakness answered him. "Saa, Duo-chan..." Heero said quietly. "If that's the way it has to be, then I'll be joining you shortly."  
  
Heero laid a single red rose on top of the fresh ground and turned away. "Until then, my *koi*...."  
  
  
  
The lithe pilot walked in the rain until he reached the cliff where he and Duo had shared much time. "Do you want me to end this, Duo? My pain, my suffering?"  
  
///////Duo crossed his arms and looked sternly at Heero. "Do we have to be up this high?"  
  
///////"Why not? You like heights." Heero peered over the edge to see the crashing waves and sharp rocks below.   
  
///////"It just makes me a little uneasy. Even you wouldn't survive a fall like that, and you've jumped off ten-storey buildings."  
  
///////"Hn." Heero shrugged. "I'll stay away from the edge, I guess."  
  
///////"Good, koi." Duo held Heero's chin in his fingertips and kissed him lightly. "If you fell over that I might have to go over after you."  
  
///////"And wouldn't I do the same?"  
  
///////"Probably," Duo laughed. "But I wouldn't want you to. I wouldn't want either of us dead."  
  
  
  
  
Heero tried to erase the long-ago conversation from his memory. "I'm sorry, Duo. It's too late for both of us now." He stood on the outcropping and stared into the crashing waves below.   
  
The Wing pilot closed his eyes and tried to take the fatal step forward, but his feet wouldn't move. He could hear Duo's voice in the back of his memory. "It's never too late for one to start over."  
  
And so Heero stood on the edge, staring at nothign, at everything, and trying in vain to make his right foot budge enough to take him into oblivion.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Duo: What the HELL!?!?!  
Shi-chan: Shut up, you're dead remember! You'll ruin the mood!  
Heero: What kind of a fanfic is this?!  
Shi-chan: It's a deathfic, of cousre. Sort of.  
Duo: Why am I the first to go?!  
Shi-chan: Well as you can see, Heero's close behind you...  
Heero: Omae o korosu...  
Shi-chan: Now, now, don't kill the writer....I'm harmless, I swear...  
  



	2. You Jump I Jump

Author's note: I was slightly disturbed to write the first two chapters of this fic and then a few hours later check Kuri's site, only to find that she had written an exceedingly similar fic...you'll understand when I mean by the sencond chapter...but, this story is not meant to infringe on any other writer's work, and if it does so, I am very sorry. (Actually, this fic is very very loosely based on a Star Wars book I once read. o.O) Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these characters. Not any of 'em. I think I need to go creativity-shopping...::sweatdrop::  
  
---------------------------  
  
Shi-chan: They seem to be in shock.  
Duo&Heero: .......  
Quatre: Why am I coming off as a wimp in this story?  
Shi-chan: Well, so's Wufei....  
Wufei: Onna, this is unfair.  
Duo: And...I don't like it....  
Shi-chan: Anyway, back to the fic...again, it's not humor, tissue alert ahead. I hope.   
All 5 pilots: *sweatdrop*  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 2  
  
  
Duo Maxwell was having an incredibly difficult time keeping Heero steady enough so he wouldn't send them both flying off the cliff.   
  
  
How had he gotten into this mess anyway? The last thing he remembered was falling asleep with a headache, and then waking up on the muddy ground to see Heero attempting to kill himself. As it was Duo was slowly losing his grip on both Heero's leg and the slippery ground, but the Wing pilot had stopped trying as hard as he had before.  
  
Duo tried talking to his spaced-out partner once again. "Heero? Oi! Heero-man! You really don't want to do this, seriously! I don't need you dying on me!"  
  
Up until that point Duo's words hadn't seemed to be affecting Heero, but at this last statement the brown-haired pilot stopped trying to move. //Aii, thank Kami, maybe I got through to him...//  
  
That last theory proved wrong when in a burst of anger Heero wrested himself from Duo's erethral grasp and flug his body into the abyss.  
  
"Aw, no way, Heero!" //Damn.// "Well...you jump, I jump, right? Not like I have anything to lose..." Except you... He cleared the doubts and the old movie line from his mind and plunged over the cliff.  
  
The Wing pilot had already hit the water, much to Duo's dismay. At least he hadn't landed on the rocks, but still...Duo shut his eyes tightly and hit the frigid water with a bone-jarring splash. He immediately dove underneath and quickly located Heero, who was unconscious. Duo concentrated a bit--when he didn't his hands seemed to pass right through whatever he touched--and dragged the brown-haired boy out of the water and onto the rocks.   
  
Once they were out of danger the Deathscythe pilot checked Heero's pulse and to his relief it was still strong. //Do I even breathe? Would I even be able to revive him?// Duo couldn't help but wonder exactly what he was now. A cut on his left leg was spilling blood through his black slacks, proving that perhaps his heart still pumped, but Duo was still a little unsure. Either way, there were more important things to deal with. Duo stripped off his wet black overshirt and wrung it out, then put it on Heero to try and stop his shivers. Again Duo wondered if it was possible to die twice--his already blueish-tinted skin was growing paler. Duo slung the unconscious boy over his shoulder and started to climb up the cliff, but quickly lost his grip. He looked frantically around for another way out, but saw none. //Heero. How are we going to get out of this?//  
  
Duo wondered if there wasn't something else he could do in his ghostly state. He tried to walk through the cliff, he tried flying, he even tried entering Heero's body--the last option actually seemed to work, but Heero's frozen fingers were even less mobile than his own. "Isn't there *anything* I can do?!" Duo screamed at no one in particular. Suddenly the black-clad boy lost his balance and fell over.   
  
"Oh, geez. I had to ask..." His muscled back now sported a pair of sinister-looking batwings. "Ah well, can't look a gift horse in the mouth eh? Come on, Heero-man..." Duo picked up the other boy and used the huge wings to propel them both back to the top of the cliff. "Uh. That takes a lot out of you." Duo collapsed, breathing hard, on the ground. "How am I gonna get you back home?"  
  
Heero's body lay facedown, his exposed legs tinged a distinct blue. Duo staggered to his feet. "Gotta...keep going..."  
  
He wondered if using Heero's limbs himself again might work a little better this time, and warily touched the brown-haired pilot's arm. "Y'know, Heero, I'm really hoing this doesn't count as possessing you or anything..." //Hope he doesn't wake up while I'm in there, I'll have some real explaining to do...//  
  
Using Heero's limbs as if they were his own, Duo got to 'his' feet and was relieved to note that Heero's legs and arms were still mobile. "Ah, koi, I'm actually seeing the world from your eyes. What a moment." Duo furrowed his brow. "Y'know, I think you need glasses."  
  
  
  
  
-------------------  
  
  
  
  
Quatre answered the door to find a mostly-frozen Heero just barely standing on the step. "Oi. Quatre-kun."  
  
"Heero! Oh, Allah, what *happened* to you?!" Quatre ushered Heero/Duo inside.  
  
"Tried to kill hi--myself." Duo almost collapsed in relief at the waves of heat emmenating from the house.   
  
"Oh, Heero!" Quatre steered Duo into the living room where there was a fire blazing in the fireplace. "It's about Duo, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah." Duo was a little unsure of what to say. Gingerly he slipped out of Heero's body, but the second he did, the still-unconscious Wing pilot slumped to the floor.  
  
"*Heero!*" Quatre and Duo both caught the brown-haired boy before he hit the hardwood floor. Quatre ran to the closet and yanked out heavy wool blankets to bring back Heero's warmth. Duo rubbed his koi's hand briskly, but he was so cold he was almost passing out himself. //There's no one here to help me...//  
  
Hoping the blonde pilot wouldn't object too much, Duo slipped into his body instead and was met with warm releif. The little Arab had plenty here to keep Heero alive and bring feeling back into Duo's frozen body, definitely.  
  
Duo/Quatre heaped the blankets over Heero and squeezed in under them himself for body heat. Only then did he turn his attention to the voice in the back of his conscience. /I must have passed out again./  
  
"Gomen, Q-man, I didn't mean to...um, you know!" Duo let out a halfhearted giggle.   
  
/Who's that?/  
  
Duo wondered if Quatre could hear him when he wasn't talking aloud. He didn't want anybody thinking the little Arab was a total nutcase. //Quatre?//  
  
The other boy sounded slightly scared. Understandably. //It's me, Quatre. Duo.//  
  
/Duo.../  
  
//Quatre?// The other boy didn't speak. //Q-man! Hey, you okay back there? Aw, man....//  
  
/Duo, is there something I should know here?/  
  
//Too much to explain, Quatre, my friend. As it is I...borrowed...your body. Just for a few minutes. I'm so cold...//  
  
/Duo, what happened?/  
  
//I'm still not even sure. I woke up and saw Heero standing of the edge of a cliff, planning to kill himself. He jumped and I went after him, and we both nearly froze. I don't really understand it.//  
  
/You're dead./  
  
//Last time I checked, yeah...// Duo let a laugh escape from Quatre's lips. //Unfortunately, Heero seems to think he'd be better off that way too.//  
  
/So now you really are Death./ Duo could hear the distinct irony in his friend's voice. /It's odd./  
  
//Tell me about it.// Heero stirred slightly and moaned, and Duo placed a finger on his koi's lips. "Heero..."  
  
Quatre's faraway voice sounded a little embarassed. /I guess I'll just leave you two alone for a while?/  
  
//Thanks, Q-man. What would I do without you?// Quatre hesitated a moment before answering. //I'm thinking...not too much.// The other boy's conscience almost seemed to disappear, leaving Duo alone in the unfamiliar body.  
  
The now-blond boy gave Heero's shoulders a slight shake. "Oi. Heero? Wake up!"  
  
Heero's arm twitched and his blue lips let out a soft groan. "Duo..."  
  
"Right here, Hee-chan." Duo leaned over and kissed Heero softly on the lips. What he wasn't expecting was to have Heero grab his arms and hold him close, unable to escape from the Wing pilot's shivering embrace.  
  
"Hey hey, you don't really want to make Quatre see all this, Heero, come on...oh man..." Duo was unable to determine whether Heero was semi-conscious or having delusions, but he was running his slim fingers down Duo's thighs and around his waist, and pulling the Deathscythe pilot furthur and furthur into a miasma of pleasure until he could speak no more.  
  
The last thing Duo managed to think was, //God, I hope Quatre's not watching this...sorry, old pal...//  
  
Then he was lost in the heat of the fire raging and desire burning deep within.  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
  
Quatre: I refuse to participate in this fic any more.  
Shi-chan: Look, buddy, after the last _three_ I swore I'd write you into one or die trying.  
Quatre: You didn't mention that I'd be sleeping with Heero!  
Shi-chan: Did I say you were?  
Duo: You HINTED at it!  
Shi-chan: Well, I guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter then!  



	3. Just Like That Old Movie

Author's note: I was slightly disturbed to write the first two chapters of this fic and then a few hours later check Kuri's site, only to find that she had written an exceedingly similar fic...you'll understand when I mean by the sencond chapter...but, this story is not meant to infringe on any other writer's work, and if it does so, I am very sorry. (Actually, this fic is very very loosely based on a Star Wars book I once read. o.O) Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these characters. Not any of 'em. I think I need to go creativity-shopping...::sweatdrop::  
  
---------------------------  
  
Shi-chan: Okay, let's get back at this.  
Quatre: Did I mention how much I didn't like the way this fic is going?  
Shi-chan: Yeah, you did say something...  
Trowa: Neither do I.  
Duo: Gee, well that's understandable!  
Shi-chan: Oro...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 3  
  
Duo woke up again still enfolded in Heero's arms. The Japanese pilot shifted a little bit. //He's waking up...//  
  
Duo speculated whether it would be wise for Heero to come to and find himself clutching Quatre like his long-lost sweetheart. Unfortunately Heero's stiff fingers didn't seem to intend to let Duo go, so several seconds later the colbalt-blue eyes fluttered open and Duo braced for impact. //Maybe if I try and roll I won't break anything...//  
  
Heero spent a small eternity gaping at the blond boy he was holding so tightly. "Quatre..."  
  
The brown-haired boy didn't throw Duo across the room as he had been expecting. Instead he just sat and looked into Duo's eyes. Duo couldn't pull himself away from his lover's piercing ice-blue gaze.   
  
"I'm sorry..." Duo apologized, trying to sound like the little Arab. "Heero..."  
  
Heero grunted. "I should be the one to apologize. I...I was having the oddest dream. I shouldn't have acted like I did."  
  
Duo was only semi-horrified. "You...Heero, how much of what just happened do you actually remember?"  
  
"All of it. I'm sorry, Quatre."  
  
"Aiya..." Duo slipped out from under the blankets and stretched. "Daijobu, Heero-kun. So...when do I get an explanation of what happened right before that?"  
  
Heero looked stricken. "How did I get here?"   
  
"Uh...we went looking for you, and found you unconscious by the cliff. You were lucky you didn't get yourself killed," he accused.   
  
"Oh." Heero looked slightly disappointed. Duo felt a small pang of regret that he had caused his friend such pain.   
  
"Heero...I want you to promise me that you won't try that again." Duo tried his best to look staern and caring at the same time, something he used to be so talented at.   
  
Regardless of the conversation they had just had, Heero didn't looked surprised that Quatre knew about the suicide attempt. "I don't know if I can do that."  
  
Duo almost broke down then and there. "Heero, *please!* Duo wouldn't want you to do this to yourself!"  
  
"And what do you know?" Heero spat. "You never knew what happened between us! I can't do this without him!"   
  
"Heero..." Duo knelt back down and gave Heero a hug, and then a quick kiss on the lips before Heero knew what was happening. "Trust me. I know more than you imagine."  
  
Then, with a wink and a smile, he turned and left the room.   
  
-------------------------  
  
  
Duo ambled upstairs and into Quatre's room where he could have minute to himself. Sitting down on the soft bed, he left Quatre's body and was pleased to find that he seemed to be back to normal temperature...whatever that was. Quatre, on the other hand, fell back on the bed with his eyes closed.  
  
Belatedly Duo wondered if his 'possession,' idea had any side effects, and feverantly hoped that his little Arabian friend wasn't dead or had his soul sucked out of him or something. "Quatre?"  
  
The blond boy stirred, much to Duo's relief. "Oh, thank Kami, Q-man! I was worried!"  
  
"Hey, Duo." Quatre yawned and sat up. "Gomen, I fell asleep. What happened with Heero?"   
  
"Um." Duo bit his lip. "Nothing, *really...*"  
  
Quatre reached out with his index finger and poked Duo's wrist.  
  
"Oro?" Duo looked at the limb worriedly, which seemed fine to him. "What's up?"  
  
"Duo...I can *see* you."  
  
Duo had barely noticed that he didn't have a body anymore. "Wait, you can? Is that supposed to happen?"  
  
"I don't know," Quatre confessed. "I don't even know what you are. A ghost? Your own spirit?"  
  
"I'm having a little trouble figuring that one out myself," said Duo. "I didn't think anyone could see me, but I pulled Heero out of the water without any trouble. It's not like I'm having a hard time holding onto things, and--he checked his wounded leg--and I'm, uh, bleeding. I should actually put something on that. But...you couldn't see me, and Heero didn't hear me calling to him. I really don't get it."  
  
"It's like an out-of-body experience, almost," said Quatre thoughtfully. "Only...I'm pretty sure you really are...uh..." the little pilot trailed off and left the sentence hanging.   
  
"I was thinking about what you said, Q-man. About me becoming Death." Duo flopped over on the bed. "but that wouldn't make sense, since I woke up just to see Heero about to kill himself. So does that make me some kind of guardian, or something?"   
  
Quatre gave this concept some thought. "Maybe you're supposed to be watching over Heero to make sure he doesn't die."   
  
"Maybe it's like that old movie!" Duo turned over onto his stomach and he was glad to feel the familiar weight of his chestnut braid slung across his back. "Unfinished buisness and all that."   
  
"It doesn't seem plausible, but then again neither does your very existance." The smaller boy let a pleased smile decorate his porcelain features. "Did I mention how glad I am to see you again?"  
  
"No, you forgot that!" Duo laughed. "but I assumed it anyway!"   
  
"You're full of yourself!" smiled Quatre. "but that's okay!"   
  
The two pilots' merry laughter brought light to the room, and once more Duo felt whole again.  
  
  
----------------------  
  
  
  
Heero sat beside the blazing fire, still trying to comprehend what had happened.   
  
Had Quatre just made advances on him? It didn't make sense. The little Arab wasn't usually so bold, and his demeanor and speech had seemed out of character. Heero couldn't quite put his finger on it. He wondered if Duo's death had been affecting Quatre as much as it had affected himself.  
  
The Japanese boy got to his feet and belatedly noticed that instead of his customary green tanktop he was wearing one of Duo's black longsleeved shirts. Why hadn't he noticed that when he and Quatre had been lying together by the fire, and he had imagined...  
  
That was what it was, of course, his imagination. Those pale fingers and fine blonde hair weren't what the illusion had been, it was of callused hands and long, chestnut-brown hair. The long braid had pooled on Heero's chest, those strong hands had caressed Heero's face, those ruby lips had drank from Heero's thirsting mouth. Where had Quatre come into the picture? Heero's addled brain didn't seem to be working straight. He ran his fingers along the velvety sleeves of Duo's shirt and wondered whether it was real, whether any of this was real.   
  
He had dreamed he held Duo in his arms, just like before. But if it was a dream, why had everything felt so real? Was he still dreaming?   
  
What if he wasn't?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
----------------------  
  
Shi-chan: More coming soon! The plot thickens!   



	4. Talking To Yourself....

Author's note: I was slightly disturbed to write the first two chapters of this fic and then a few hours later check Kuri's site, only to find that she had written an exceedingly similar fic...you'll understand when I mean by the sencond chapter...but, this story is not meant to infringe on any other writer's work, and if it does so, I am very sorry. (Actually, this fic is very very loosely based on a Star Wars book I once read. o.O) Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these characters. Not any of 'em. I think I need to go creativity-shopping...::sweatdrop::  
  
---------------------------  
  
Shi-chan: Oi oi...what a night...  
Quatre: Perhaps 5 hours of chat was a little much...  
Shi-chan: Yeah, you could be right...  
Duo: *shrugs*  
Shi-chan: Okay...let's get on with it....  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 4  
Preview: Duo and Quatre puzzle out the mystery behind Duo's existance--but is Duo _really_ real, or is Quatre just seeing things?  
  
  
Duo slept in his usual position on the left side of the bed, glad that he would finally be able to get some sleep. He had gone downstairs to watch Heero sit by the fire, lost in thought for several long hours. Duo was nodding off on the hardwood floor by the time Heero got to his feet and walked up to the bedroom. Duo snapped back to alertness and followed the Japanese boy upstairs.  
  
He still wasn't quite sure what was going on. He has been able to speak normally to Quatre as he would have before...it....happened, but he sat directly in front of Heero and got no reaction. Quatre had stepped in several times to check on them and saw only Heero staring blankly into the fire and Duo snoring on the floor. Duo had been incredibly releived when Heero had finally headed to bed.  
  
Duo had quickly noticed the disappearance of the leathery wings he had so suddenly gained, and was somewhat glad. He thought they might have freaked Quatre out, not to mention the fact that with those huge things poking out of his he didn't feel like himself. When he had exited Quatre's body the wings hadn't returned at all.  
  
Duo was learning quickly how to control what he called his "phasing technique." The same bit of concentration that had allowed him to soldily hold Heero wouldn't serve him the same way if Heero rolled over in the night and felt the invisible shape beisde him. So Duo was going without blankets, but he was on the edge of alertness to the point that he didn't fall through the bed or the floor.  
  
Duo looked at Heero's peaceful face. "Ah, koi...if only you know. But I suppose it is better for me to be able to be with you and protect you like this than us be apart, even if you don't know it."  
  
With that thought, Duo rolled over and went to sleep.  
  
  
  
------------------------  
  
  
The next morning Duo was awakened by Quatre gently shaking him. "Duo?"  
  
Duo yawned and sat up. "Oi, Q-man. What's up?"  
  
"Certainly not you. It's two o'clock already."  
  
"I'm not surprised. Heero decided to sit up half the night." Duo literally climbed *out* of the bed and tested his 'weight' on the solid floor. In Quatre's eyes, it seems that Duo had gone from a luminescent erethral angel to the typical Duo Maxwell, already pulling on his tight black pants. "This is going to take some getting used to."  
  
Duo hopped around a bit trying to get his pants on. "Oro?"  
  
"Nothing." Quatre shook his head. "Heero seems a little better now...although I'm half afraid to go near him in case he mentions what happened last night..."  
  
"Last night?" Duo adjusted his black ballcap on his head.  
  
Quatre rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't know exactly what you two were doing while I was asleep, and I don't think I want to know."  
  
Duo grinned guiltily. "Um..."  
  
"Look, Duo, I trust you. Whatever happened...I know you did it for a reason, and that's fine with me. I'll do anything I can to help you out."  
  
A sly look spread across Duo's face. "So, if I wanna take you downtown..."  
  
"I don't think so, Duo-kun." Quatre couldn't help but laugh. The little Arab led Duo downstairs to the kitchen, chatting buisily about the mission he'd just come back from and his sister getting married and did Duo want sugar with his tea? Duo readily assented and began to tell Quatre about Heero's curious behavior.  
  
"I don't know." Quatre doubtfully folded his arms as they went into the kitchen. "I'm worried too, but he does seem better than he did last night. We'll just have to see, I guess."  
  
"Maybe. I still don't understand why you can see me and he can't. I wonder about the others."  
  
"You never know. Maybe it's just Heero that the problem is with." Quatre went to the cupboard and took down two teacups. "*Do* you actually want tea, or should I get you hot chocolate or something?"  
  
Duo rushed to Quatre's side. "Oooh, Quatre-kun, hot chocolate?"  
  
Quatre laughed. "Fine then!" He bent over to grab the tin from the bottom cupboard.  
  
Duo tapped him on the shoulder. "Quatre?"  
  
"Hm?" Quatre straightened and turned around to face a concerned-looking Trowa. "Oh, good afternoon, Trowa."  
  
  
  
  
"Quatre..." Trowa studied the Arab worriedly. "Are you...all right?"  
  
"Perfectly fine," Quatre answered. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"You were talking to yourself..."   
  
Quatre sucked in a quick breath and looked to his left. "Was I? How long were you there?"  
  
"I was sitting at the table. You were too busy to notice."  
  
Quatre looked into Trowa's emerald eyes. "Trowa...I need you to answer something for me, and truthfully..."  
  
Trowa waited for him to continue.   
  
"Trowa...do you beleive in angels? Or ghosts?"  
  
"It depends on the situation," answered Trowa carefully.  
  
Quatre sighed. "Trowa, do you see a person standing to my left?"  
  
Yup, he'd flipped. "I don't see anything there, Quatre."  
  
"No turning back now, eh, old friend?" Quatre said to the empty space. Trowa listened for an answer from the invisible man, but all he heard was the faint ringing of bells in the back of his consciousness. He dismissed them.  
  
"Quatre, I'm worried." Trowa said seriously. "You're really seeing this...person? Like an imaginary friend?"  
  
"Not just any imaginary friend," Quatre clenched his fist tightly and cast a final glance to his left. "Trowa, it's Duo."  
  
  
----------------------  
  
  
Shi-chan: I hope that was long enough.  
Duo: Cliffhangers, cliffhangers...  
Shi-chan: Gomen, gomen! It seemed like an appropriate part to leave off at...  



	5. ...Is A Sure Sign Of Mental Collapse

Author's note: I was slightly disturbed to write the first two chapters of this fic and then a few hours later check Kuri's site, only to find that she had written an exceedingly similar fic...you'll understand when I mean by the sencond chapter...but, this story is not meant to infringe on any other writer's work, and if it does so, I am very sorry. (Actually, this fic is very very loosely based on a Star Wars book I once read. o.O) Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these characters. Not any of 'em. I think I need to go creativity-shopping...::sweatdrop::  
  
---------------------------  
SUNDAY:  
  
  
Shi-chan: Duo, hun, I've got a theory....  
Duo: ? What?  
Shi-chan: I'm going to try and write a chapter of this fic every night until I finish it. Is that okay with you?  
Duo: *shrugs* At least it's not the body-switch fic...whatever, just finish fast.  
Shi-chan: Yatta! I like the way this one's going. Let's get back to it!  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 5  
Preview: Duo's appearance and subsequent invisiblity make Trowa wonder at our poor Arabian's mental state...  
  
  
Duo smacked his palm against his forehead. "Q-man...weren't we going to try and keep this a secret?"  
  
"Sorry, Duo-kun...but you wanted to test your theory about Heero, right?"  
  
Trowa looked very worried. "Quatre, I know you're shaken up over Duo's death, but you have to let it go. We all do."  
  
Quatre's face was pained. "Trowa, I'm serious. I _really can see him._"  
  
The unibanged pilot put his arm around Quatre's shoulders and led him to the table. "Quatre, I know you were hit the hardest out of all of us. I'm sorry."  
  
Quatre's face paled several shades and Duo began to get a churning feeling in his stomach. "No, Trowa..." Quatre whispered hoarsely, "I wasn't hit the hardest at all." //Heero was.//  
  
Trowa's emerald eyes darkened. "I think we need to get you some real help. A counsellor, or something. Please, Quatre."  
  
"No." Quatre choked. "I'm not crazy, Trowa. I'm not! It's the truth!"  
  
"Will you come with me? At least talk to someone?" Trowa looked so concerned. "Please?"  
  
Quatre looked at the floor.  
  
Trowa frowned and stood up. "I'll talk it over with Wufei and Heero."  
  
That made both Quatre and Duo sit up and take notice. "No!" Quatre cried.  
  
Duo walked over to the fridge and began banging his head solidly against it.  
  
Quatre decided that he could always convince Trowa of Duo's existance later. "I'll go! But don't tell Heero about this. Please."  
  
Trowa looked uneasy. "You'll definitely come?"  
  
"Yes." Quatre sighed. He looked at Duo, half-passed out on the floor by the fridge. "You're coming too."  
  
"Ow," the American pilot groaned. "Wouldn't dream of making you go at it alone. I'm in."   
  
  
-------------------  
  
  
  
The next day Quatre, Trowa, and Duo walked alone in the park, the former two silent, the latter running after butterflies and cracking jokes that only Quatre could hear.  
  
Quatre was glad that it was the same old Duo, still with psychotically cheerful outlook on the world. But sometimes he saw something in those expressive violet eyes, a sadness that made him want to go to Duo and be a shoulder for him to cry on, but he knew Duo wouldn't cry. It wasn't in his nature.   
  
He could see that wistfulness in Duo now, as the chestnut-haired pilot draped his arm across Quatre's shoulders. "Y'know, I don't think Heero's faring too well."  
  
"Hm?" Quatre wondered quietly.  
  
"What?" asked Trowa.  
  
"Nothing." Quatre nodded slightly for Duo to continue.   
  
"Last night he didn't sleep. He just lay there, holding a shirt I gave him the other night. I wanted to look at him, but he wouldn't turn and face my side of the bed. He just stared at the other wall all night."  
  
Quatre gritted his teeth in response.   
  
"Heero..." Quatre almost thought he saw a glimmer of tears in Duo's violet eyes. The Arab stopped short.  
  
"He can't see me. He can't hear me. He tried to kill himself...he's _killing himself_ so slowly like this! I'm going to lose him again!" Duo finally broke down.  
  
"Oi, oi..." Quatre soothed. "You were fine just a minute ago..."  
  
"I can't be fine. Don't you see? Nothing's ever going to be the same as it was before. I'm not the same. *You're* not the same."  
  
"Shh, shh." Quatre gave Duo a hug. //I never thought I'd see Duo Maxwell cry....// But there he was, clutching Quatre for support, tears streaming down his face.   
  
"You must think I'm *such* a wimp," Duo sputtered. "I'm sorry, Quatre-kun. I don't mean to dump this out on you...but you're the only one that I can even...who can...damn!"  
  
Quatre bent down on one knee until Duo was seated in the soft grass. "It's okay, Duo. I understand completely. I'd like to think that even if you...that if you needed a shoulder to cry on, I would be it. You're one of my best friends, Duo, don't you forget that."  
  
"Damn, what did I do to deserve friends like you guys? And Heero..." he smiled. "Quatre, I always said 'boys don't cry.' But it hurts. I just need for all the pain and worry to go away. I need to laugh and talk with Trowa and Wufei, I need to fight with Heero, I need to run my fingers through his hair and kiss him and forget *everything*...."  
  
"Duo, my dear friend. Everything will be fine. You'll see. You'll see."  
  
  
  
  
-----------------------  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Duo: .......  
Shi-chan: Um. Angsty, wasn't it?  
Quatre: I think you overdid it.  
Shi-chan: Nah.  
Duo: At least it was short.  
Shi-chan: I have my reasons for that.  
Duo: Like what?  
Shi-chan: Read on...chapter six is on its way right now....  
Duo: Uso! I'm tiiiiired! Can't you ever get inspired at some time earlier than 2 a.m.?  
Shi-chan: *Yawn* No.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. That Maxwell Charm

Author's note: I was slightly disturbed to write the first two chapters of this fic and then a few hours later check Kuri's site, only to find that she had written an exceedingly similar fic...you'll understand when I mean by the sencond chapter...but, this story is not meant to infringe on any other writer's work, and if it does so, I am very sorry. (Actually, this fic is very very loosely based on a Star Wars book I once read. o.O) Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these characters. Not any of 'em. I think I need to go creativity-shopping...::sweatdrop::  
  
---------------------------  
SUNDAY:  
  
  
Duo: Oh, so *this* is your little plan...  
Shi-chan: I felt like writing...  
Duo: Two chapters of this one in one night? Sheesh...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 6  
Preview: Trowa drags Quatre out for a psychiatric checkup, and Duo's problems collapse in on him. But when Quatre explodes, it's up to Duo to take charge--literally.  
  
  
  
  
This was a truly disturbing scene for Trowa to absorb. Quatre and 'Duo,' had suddenly stopped and began having an emotional conversation that left Quatre shaking and almost in tears. He seemed to be reassuring himself that everything was okay, he stared intently at nothing. Finally he was quietly weeping, sitting in the grass.   
  
Trowa was thrown for a loop. Quatre had been more affected than he had imagined, but he dared not disturb the little Arab from his reverie. Quatre looked as though his might shatter at any moment.  
  
The unibanged pilot stood a few feet away for what seemed like forever, until Quatre gathered his wits and got to his feet. He extended a hand to 'Duo' and presumably assisted him in getting up, then he turned to Trowa. "I'm sorry."  
  
"You don't need to apologize." Trowa led Quatre out of the park and down the empty streets.   
  
"I guess now you really think I've flipped." Quatre gave him a smile that sent chills up Trowa's spine.  
  
"I don't want to see you like this anymore, that's all. Come on, it's almost time for your appointment."  
  
Quatre heaved a sigh. "You don't mind if I talk to..." Trowa thought he saw Quatre wince when he said the name. "...Duo...do you?"  
  
"If you think it will help." Trowa said stoically. Quatre looked glad. He started whispering something quietly to his invisible compainion, and Trowa heard a giggle slip out.   
  
//I don't like this,// Trowa thought. //I don't like this at all.//  
  
  
  
  
----------------------  
  
  
  
Duo was a little surprised with himself for spilling all his problems on Quatre, but it felt good to get it all out. However, he didn't like the idea of his getting Quatre clapped up in the local mental hospital if it was avoidable. But Duo wasn't quite sure what they were going to do about that yet.   
  
The little blond looked a lot happier now that Duo was smiling and laughing again and for the first time in the last few days Duo actually *felt* like laughing and smiling.  
  
They arrived at the small clinic and Trowa went to talk to the secretary while Duo and Quatre sat in the waiting room.   
  
"Now what?" asked Quatre.  
  
"I think Trowa should come in with us. Maybe once you tell him...he'll understand..."  
  
"*Should* I tell the doctor anything?" Quatre looked worried.   
  
"Sure, go ahead. I just don't want Heero to find out about any of this, no telling what he'll do. Tell the shrink anything you like. Trowa, too." Duo fliched visibly at the word 'shrink.'  
  
"If you think so..." Quatre shrugged.  
  
Trowa walked up to them. "Quatre, he's ready."  
  
The Arabian pilot got to his feet and took Trowa by the wrist. "I'm not going in there without you."  
  
"That's probably against regulations, Quatre."  
  
"I don't care. You're coming."  
  
Trowa let out a worried sigh and let Quatre drag him into the office, Duo following close behind.  
  
  
The three boys sat down and the doctor introduced himself as Dr. Naya. "So, which one of you are we going to be talking with?"  
  
Quatre raised a sheepish hand. "Me, sir."  
  
Naya settled himself in his chair. "What's bothering you?"  
  
Duo sat back as Quatre began to explain the events of late. "Sir, I had a friend who I was very close to. His name was Duo, and several weeks ago he died of cancer."  
  
"I see." Naya wrote some of the details down on a pad of paper.  
  
"Another friend of mine--his name is Heero--was involved in a serious romantic relationship with Duo. A few days ago he tried to commit suicide by throwing himself off a cliff. He was saved by Duo--his spirit, or his essence, or something, but Duo came back when he felt Heero in danger. He brought Heero back to the house and they were both nearly freezing.   
  
"We talked--I realized that I seemed to be the only one who could see Duo standing there, who could hear him talking to me." Duo noticed that Quatre had left out the part about Heero trying to seduce Duo while he was in Quatre's body. "He's been staying in the house since then, and neither of us can figure out why he's still here."  
  
Quatre looked Duo pointedly in the eyes. "He's having a lot of problems with the whole situation. And you think I'm nuts."  
  
"Not at all." Naya shook his head. "This isn't such a rare occurance. It's natural for you to be missing him, and it might seem to you that he's with you in spirit like he was before he was sick. Don't you think so?"  
  
Quatre turned his ice-blue gaze on the doctor. "It sounds insane. But he's really here."  
  
Trowa spoke up. "Quatre, we're just worried. He's trying to help."  
  
Duo didn't like the look in Quatre's eyes at all. "You needn't worry about me."  
  
Naya sighed. "Quatre, have you had any previous mental health problems?"  
  
"No." Quatre growled, steel in his voice.  
  
Naya looked at Trowa, who sighed.  
  
"Quatre, I'm very sorry, but I think this may be slightly out of my league. I'd like to reschedule you for a full psychiatric assessment--"  
  
"NO!" Quatre screamed in rage.  
  
Trowa jumped to his feet. "Quatre!"  
  
Quatre's soft blue eyes were streaming tears of helplessness. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! HOW CAN I MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!"  
  
"Quatre!" Duo rushed to Quatre side and held him by his shoulders. "Quatre! Don't freak out!"  
  
"I can't, Duo! I promised!"  
  
"Promised what?" Duo looked into the frenzied pools of blue.   
  
"I promised you it would be okay! I promised Heero it would be okay! I promised myself that I wouldn't let my friends down anymore!"  
  
Duo grimaced. "Relax! I'm perfectly okay. I'm worried about *you.*"  
  
Trowa seemed unsure of what to do. "Quatre...I'm sorry..."  
  
"DON'T BE!!!" Quatre shrieked.  
  
This was not going well. It was Duo's turn to have it out with Trowa now.  
  
With a silent apology, he slipped once again into Quatre's body.  
  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
Trowa didn't know what to do next. Quatre was sobbing and yelling at him and the doctor, his fists clenched in rage, his eyes red-rimmed and panicked.  
  
Then suddenly he stopped.  
  
The scene froze for a few seconds. Quatre's arms hung limply at his sides, his head bowed. Then he straighted. "Sorry 'bout that."  
  
Naya looked up from behind his clipboard. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine." Quatre said nonchalantly.  
  
Trowa, still uneasy, folded his arms. "What just happened?"  
  
"Did he just get reassessed or what? Damn. What were you about to say, Doctor?" Quatre bit his lip and swung his arms up behind his head in a very un-Quatre-like way.  
  
Naya blinked. "Uh...I was reccommending that you have a full assessment done. I'll schedule it as soon as possible, we can get you the best help."  
  
"No." Quatre said simply.  
  
"No?" Naya looked stressed.  
  
"He's not insane." Quatre put his hands on his hips.   
  
"Who?" asked Trowa carefully.  
  
"Quatre." The blond boy seemed to steel himself for Trowa's response.  
  
Naya's voice adopted a childlike tone. "Quatre...please...who are you then?"  
  
Quatre looked into Trowa's emerald eyes and fingered a gold cross necklace that Trowa hadn't noticed he was wearing. "I think you already know."  
  
Trowa stared into the ice-blue gaze--was it his imaginiation, or did the deep eyes seem to flicker a more violet color? "Quatre..."  
  
"Sheesh...you don't get it, do you?" The little Arab flopped into the chair behind him. "I'm not Quatre. I'm Duo."  
  
There was something deep within Trowa that suspected the other pilot might be telling the truth, but his sense of logic took over.   
  
"Everything Q-man said was the truth. That's why he flipped out. I don't know why I'm here, how I got here, what I'm supposed to be doing. It's heaping tons of stress on us both."  
  
Trowa couldn't beleive this. Quatre had adopted Duo's dialect, his mannarisms, his attitude. It was like it really was Duo in the that small frame, with platinum blond hair and that sweet face. Duo sitting there, wearing the gold cross he always had around his neck, smiling the Maxwell smile that made women and Heero Yuy melt, flicking his long brown braid over his shoulder.  
  
It was that telltale gesture that threw Trowa off. Quatre reached up to brush his hair back, but his hand encountered nothing. Confusion flickered for just a second across his face before he regained himself. "Aren't you gonna say anything?"  
  
"Quatre...or Duo, or whoever you are...I know how much you want me to beleive you. But it's hard to swallow. It's impossible. And with your breakdown in Wing Zero last year, it makes it really hard for us to take in what you're trying to say."  
  
Those violet eyes--no! They were blue!--burned into Trowa's soul like nothing he'd ever felt before. There was a hurt, betrayed look on Quatre/Duo's porcelain face. //I can't. I can't beleive you.//  
  
Duo sighed. "I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way. Sorry, Trowa." He got to his feet and walked toward the unibanged pilot. Trowa did not move.  
  
The blonde boy took Trowa by the shoulders and stared him in the face.  
  
Then, everything went black.  
  
  
  
  
  
//Trowa.//  
  
Trowa snapped back into alertness. Quatre's blue eyes closed and Trowa felt his body dive to catch the smaller pilot, but something was terribly wrong. He couldn't move his arms. He couldn't move his legs. All he could do was watch as someone else controlled his movements, as that someone picked up the semiconscious Quatre and seated him in the chair.  
  
//Trowa.//  
  
/Who's that?/  
  
//It's me, Trowa. Duo.//  
  
/That's impossible./  
  
//Isn't that why you didn't beleive Quatre?//  
  
/Where are we?/  
  
//Inside your head.//  
  
/You're controlling me, aren't you./ It wasn't a question.  
  
//Yes. I think I have your complete and total attention now, don't I?//  
  
/So you do./  
  
//Shall I leave?//  
  
/Where will you go?/  
  
//Quatre. We needed to make sure that you didn't get him sent to the psycho ward. You *do* beleive me now right?//  
  
/Have I any choice?/  
  
Quatre stirred and sat up. Trowa/Duo was sitting in the chair beside him, staring at the wall. "Trowa?"  
  
Aloud, Duo said "No, it's me." His hand came up to the gold cross at his neck.  
  
/I think I understand./  
  
//Do you?//  
  
Suddenly Trowa was in control once more. He slumped into his chair a bit before he realized it. "What?"  
  
When he opened his eyes again Quatre was saying something to him worriedly. Duo was kneeling beside him too, looking concerned.  
  
Duo.  
  
Trowa started. "Duo?!?"  
  
The chestnut-haired boy looked up. "What?"  
  
Trowa bent over and leveled his face with the other pilot's.   
  
Duo skittered back. "What the hell!?"  
  
Quatre looked ecstatic. "Trowa! You can see him too!?"  
  
"I beleive so, unless I'm hallucinating." The familiar form of Duo Maxwell was half sprawled over a chair he had just encountered behind him. Duo jumped to his feet and adjusted the black baseball cap on his head.  
  
"Thank Allah..." Quatre sighed.  
  
Dr. Naya cleared his throat. "Excuse me, what just happened?"  
  
All three pilots glared at him. Duo began to drag Trowa and Quatre out the door, Trowa marveling at the sight before him. Duo's callused hands around his wrist seemed as solid and real as his own.  
  
Quatre offered the doctor a sheepish smile. "I'm terribly sorry, we won't be needing your services anymore. Please charge the bill to Winner Enterprises. Thanks!"  
  
Duo gleefully pulled Trowa out of the office, leaving the poor confused doctor staring after them. "I think I need a vacation."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
----------------------  
  
  
  
  
  
Heero: zzzzz....  
Duo: No fair, he gets to sleep while I've gotta be in the fic...  
Shi-chan: Aiya...  
Quatre: That crying part!!! Ack!  
Shi-chan: o.O;; Hai...but it kind of lost its effect cause it wasn't a cliffhanger this time...  
Quatre: I hate cliffhangers!  
Shi-chan: Oivey...till next tomorrow...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
MONDAY:  
  
  
Duo: Starting early tonight?  
Shi-chan: Yeah, I'll see how many chapters I can write before DBZ...  
Duo: Oi...maybe this means I can get some sleep tonight...  
Heero: Hn...  
Duo: ....or not. *Mischevious giggle*  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 7  
  
  
  
"I don't undertsand." Trowa said simply.  
  
Duo, playing on the swingset, looked up at the unibanged pilot. "Um. You're not alone."  
  
Quatre was seated on the bench beside Trowa. "I can't seem to puzzle it out. One minute Duo's in my head, the next he's standing in front of me. Have I completely lost it?"  
  
Quatre had barely heard Trowa say so many words in one sentence before. "I can understand why you thought I needed a therapist."  
  
"Hn." Trowa sighed. "Perhaps I need one too. This is impossible."  
  
Duo swung back and forth. "Hell, yes. It's insane, it's impossible, and it's happening. So now what?"  
  
"I think I may have noticed a pattern in this." Quatre said uneasily.  
  
"What?" asked Trowa.  
  
"Well, I didn't see Duo at all the first night he arrived, until he came into my head and talked to me. Then you saw him after he was in you. Maybe that's the key to this."  
  
"What, you mean that after Duo...possesses...someone, they're able to acknowledge his presence?" Trowa looked thoughtful. "That could be it."  
  
"I already thought of that." Duo heaved a sigh and used the metal pole to kick himself into swinging sidways. "It'd be a great theory only it's already been proven wrong."  
  
"How so?" Quatre inquired.  
  
"I kind of borrowed Heero's body for a while the night I came back. You didn't think he managed to walk all the way back from the cliff himself, did you?"  
  
"I wondered about that actually. So you've been in Heero, but he still can't see you?" Quatre's face scrunched in concentration.  
  
"Nope. I followed him around a bit while you were making breakfast the other day, walked in front of him a few times. He didn't bat an eye." Duo's beautiful eyes took on that wistful look again. "I wish..."  
  
Quatre moved over to the swings and put an arm over Heero's shoulder. "Daijobu, Duo-kun. We'll get this figured out eventually."  
  
Duo bit his lip. "I can't stand to be around him! To know that he's so close I could touch him, I could kiss him, I could hold him in my arms...and I can't! I slept on the couch last night. I can't look at him and know he's in pain because of me."  
  
"Oh, Duo..." Quatre began to play with the end of Duo's braid. "There has to be a reason why all this is happening, it's just a matter of kinding out what. Maybe that's what it will take for Heero to see."  
  
"Or that might get me yanked back to the afterlife, or whatever."  
  
"What was it like?" Trowa asked bluntly.  
  
Duo shrugged. "I don't know, I don't think I ever actually got there. The stuff with Heero happened too fast."  
  
"What was that stuff you were saying about 'unfinished buisness' the other night?" Quatre wondered.  
  
"Oh, that was just a theory. Like that old movie, ya know? The hero dies and can't get to heaven--or possibly hell, in my case--because there's something on Earth that he still needs to do. In which case when I actually *do* this thing I cease to exist, yet again." Duo's gloomy face was enough to depress Quatre furthur. "On the other hand, I was also thinking about another possibility." He perked up.  
  
"I'm pretty sure that the reason I came back anyway was to stop Heero from killing himself. If that was the duty I was supposed to do, then it's already done and I haven't left yet right? I was thinking that maybe I'm supposed to stay here and protect Heero. Then again, maybe I was right about the 'becoming death' thing and I'm supposed to wait till he kills himself and then take his soul. But I don't want to think about that possibility." The braided pilot grimaced. "Or maybe I'm supposed to kill him myself. But I could never bring myself to do that. And I'm leaning heavily towards the 'shinigami' idea."  
  
Quatre thought he saw a flash of doubt in Duo's violet eyes. "Why do you say that?"  
  
Duo got off the swings. "I wasn't gonna show you this, but it seems we're all in for the ride in this adventure. Let's go someplace more private."  
  
The American boy led Quatre and Trowa to a secluded clump of trees at the edge of the park. Quatre hoped Duo wasn't going to turn into a demon or something, the grim look on his face was unsettling. Duo turned to face the other pilots. "When I saved Heero that night, something really odd happened to me--besides waking up from being dead, that is." He closed his eyes and grimaced in pain, and suddenly the sunlight pouring down of them way cut off by the appearance of two monsterous-looking leathery wings poking out of Duo's back. Quatre gasped.  
  
Trowa actually looked surprised. "That's impressive, Duo."  
  
"Yeah, I know." the smaller boy fought to keep his balance with the added weight. "They really freak me out. They just...appeared, and then when I borrowed Heero for a new mode of transportation they disappeared. Now I can kind of make them go away or come back just by thinking about it. In case you were wondering, Trowa, I can also control how solid my body is. But I've been pretty much just staying solid all the time, or else I can't interact with things."  
  
"He looks like an angel. He shimmers." Quatre stated. "Show him, Duo."  
  
Duo obliged, letting his concentration go until his entire body was transluscent and glowing. Quatre expected him to slip right through the earth and disappear, but Duo used the ethereal wings to boost himself a few inches off the ground and just hung there.   
  
Trowa was gaping. "It's hard to beleive that you might be the embodiment of Death when you look like that."  
  
"Yeah...kind of..." Duo folded his legs indian-style, still floating. "But the wings add kind of a hellish cast to the picture."  
  
The leathery wings did offset the look, Trowa thought. "Impressive, Duo. You can control this appearance at will?"  
  
"Sort of." Duo rose a little higher and he lost a little of the blue glow. "I can control the wings, and I can control what I call my 'phasing.'" Suddenly the little pilot was sitting on his behind on the hard ground, solid once again and looking like the Duo Maxwell he knew. A second later the wings disappeared as well.  
  
Duo stood up and rubbed his backside. "Oops, gained too much weight too fast."  
  
Quatre was awed. "Wow."  
  
Duo gave him his usual grin and swung his arms up behind his head. "I don't do that much. It puts holes in my shirts."  
  
"I see." Trowa said carefully. "This is quite a mystery. What are we going to do about you?"  
  
Duo cast his eyes downward. "I don't know, Trowa. I really don't know."  
  
Quatre fiddled with the end of his vest. "We should get beck to the house and check on Heero soon, you know. He wasn't even up when I locked the door."  
  
"Yeah, you're right. Let's get back to the house." Duo offered Quatre a careful smile, but the little Arab could still see the pain in his eyes at the mention of Heero's name. "I'd kill for a little rest and relaxation, and maybe some ice cream. Your couch is horribly uncomfortable you know."  
  
"I'll try and make it up to you," Quatre laughed. "Ice cream it is."  
  
Duo perked up momentarily, but Quatre still wondered how long it would last.  
  
At this rate, neither he nor Heero could hold on much longer.  
  
  
  
  
  
-----------------------  
Shi-chan: More in a few minutes, or hours. But I'll get more done tonight.  
Duo: I need sleep!  
Shi-chan: Take a nap! It's only 7:30!  
Wufei: Onna, why do you always talk to yourself before and after your fics?  
Shi-chan: I'm *discussing* them with my wonderful staff. Duo here is my muse, aren't you Duo?  
Duo: I'm what?  
Trowa: *nudges him* You're her sex toy.  
Duo: Oh.  
Shi-chan: .....  
Heero: .....  
Duo: Oi, sorry Hee-chan...just kidding...  
Wufei: Injustice!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Floating Teacups and Phasing Floors

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
MONDAY:  
  
  
Duo: Damn, I was hoping you'd forget.  
Shi-chan: I'm enjoying this too much. I have a hilarious idea cooked up for Wufei.  
Duo: Hai..let's get to it then!  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 8  
SHOUNEN-AI, SAP, ANGST, MINOR CUSSING, ETC, ETC, AND TRUST ME THERE'S A REASON BEHIND THE THING WITH HEERO!  
  
  
Back at Quatre's place, the three boys were reminiscing in the kitchen. Quatre was incredibly pleased he didn't have to keep Duo's secret all to himself anymore, having Trowa there carrying on normal conversation with Duo was a great releif.  
  
Duo looked up when Quatre reentered the kitchen. "What's up Q-man?"  
  
"He's asleep upstairs in your room. He seems a lot better now...thank Allah..."  
  
"Great! That takes a bit off my shoulders." Duo was happily enjoying a cup of hot chocolate.  
  
Quatre took a seat at the table and stirred sugar into his cup of tea. "I'm glad."  
  
Duo raised the cup to his lips again and took a sip. "Damn...too hot.."  
  
Trowa raised an eyebrow. "You ought to have added water."  
  
A familiar voice spoke up. "Letting your guard down as usual. Weaklings."  
  
Quatre sat straight up. "Wufei! Good to see you!"  
  
Wufei graced him with a slight smile. "You also, Quatre. I've finished my mountain training, at least for a while."  
  
"Good old Wu-man, never quits." Duo beamed at Trowa. "He been gone long?"  
  
Wufei suddenly focused right on Duo. "What the hell?!"  
  
Duo jumped in shock. "Not again! Can you see me too?"  
  
"Quatre...I may hallucinating...but there is a levitating teacup over by the counter." Wufei pointed at Duo.  
  
"What are you...oh." Quatre finally realized that Duo was still holding his mug of hot chocolate. "Umm..."  
  
"Teacup? Oh!" Duo gingerly laid the cup back down on the counter behind him.  
  
"Wufei? Are you all right? I don't see anything." Trowa saved the day again. He stood and went to Wufei's side.  
  
Wufei pointed at the mug. "I could have sworn...forget it. Perhaps my eyes have been weakened by lack of sleep." Wufei looked tired, it was true. There were dark circles under his eyes. In fact, none of the other pilots had seen the Chinese boy since Duo's funeral.  
  
"Aw, poor Wu-man...hmm...I just had a thought." Duo grinned.  
  
"What a relevation." Trowa said dryly.  
  
"Hee. I've got an idea." Duo hopped over beside Wufei and waved his hand in front of his face.  
  
"Um...what are you..." Quatre didn't like the look on the American's face. He tapped Wufei on the shoulder lightly, and then he disappeared.  
  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
  
//Wufei.//  
  
/Who's that?/  
  
//Just a friend.// Duo skillfully lowered his voice until he barely recognized it himself. //You're seeing things. You need sleep.//  
  
/I'm hallucinating./  
  
//Yes, you are. Go to bed and get some sleep.//  
  
Duo was on the other end of the possession trick this time, watching with avid interest as Wufei nodded at Trowa and Quatre and backed out the door. "I need to rest awhile, I beleive. We'll discuss things in the morning."  
  
"'Night, Wufei." Quatre stared right into Wufei's eyes, and it gave Duo the shivers. Wufei walked upstairs and lay down on the bed.  
  
/A floating teacup. How stupid and weak of you to see such a thing!/ Wufei taunted himself. Duo did not speak, just listened curiously to the Chinese boy's thoughts. Wufei carried out a short argument before falling silent.   
  
Duo left Wufei's body and hopped down on the floor. "That's the most interesting thing I've seen all day! The look on Wu's face when he saw the teacup..." It was priceless. He ran back downstairs and into the kitchen.  
  
"Duo, I hope you didn't do anything to him!" Quatre scolded. "He's been a wreck lately!"  
  
"I didn't do anything at all. I just told him to go and get some sleep." Duo shrugged.  
  
"Didn't he know it was you? Oh. He thought he was going nuts, great."  
  
"No, actually he didn't recognize my voice." Duo laughed. "I just said, you're hallucinating, go to bed. And he did. After a brief arguement with his own consciousness-not with *me,* but with *himself*--he just fell asleep. It was actually pretty funny." Duo returned to his mug of hot chocolate. "Mmm, it's cooled down."  
  
"I guess it's safe for us to talk here, with the two of them asleep. I was worried about Wufei too." Quatre frowned.  
  
Duo nodded. "Yeah, Wu-kun looked a little stressed. He'll probably be back to himself by morning."  
  
"Hai." Trowa finished the last of his tea. "Shall we wait until morning then, and see how they're doing?"  
  
"Sure. I can tell you right now, I'm not sleeping on the couch again. I'd rather have the floor." Duo looked saddened.   
  
"Go ahead and take one of the spare bedrooms, if you like, Duo. It's on the third floor." Quatre smiled.  
  
"There's more rooms?" this brought the grin back to Duo's face. "Sugoi! I'm going to bed then, I got *no* sleep last night!"  
  
Quatre waved at him. "Good night, then. See you in the morning! Make it to breakfast if you can..."  
  
"Got it!" Duo ran out and up the stairs. He inspected each of the guest rooms and selected one that looked like it had a comfy bed. He jumped on it, clothes and all. "Blissful sleep!"  
  
Then, he fell into dreams.  
  
  
  
----------------  
  
  
  
Duo was standing on the edge of the cliff where Heero had looked out not that long ago. He looked around, but could see his koi nowhere. "Heero?"  
  
No answer.  
  
Duo sighed and started walking back toward the house. How had he gotten out here anyway? All he remembered was the fluffy bed...and darkness.  
  
Suddenly Heero came running from the opposite direction. Duo's face lit up. "Heero!"  
  
Heero paused to stare darkly at Duo. "You left me."  
  
"What?" Duo gaped at his lover.   
  
"You left me all alone. Now I'll leave you all alone." Heero picked up speed and ran towards the edge of the cliff.  
  
"Shit! Heero, no!" Duo bolted towards the Japanese boy and caught him by the waist as Heero launched himself off the edge. They sailed out into open air.  
  
Duo willed his wings to appear, willed himself to fly, float, anything to stop them from falling into the icy water again, but nothing happened. No wings were sprouting from his back, and Duo thought for a fleeting moment that he might be alive again. He tried to phase himself, but his hands were as solid and real as they had been not-that-long-ago-forever. The world was moving in slow-motion. The empty air couldn't hold him. He began to fall...  
  
//Am I alive, only to die again?//   
  
Duo Maxwell screamed in agony.  
  
  
  
----------------  
  
  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the animal scream tore from his throat like no sound he had ever heard as he hit the rock-hard water. The water seemed almost to reject him and he lay on top of it, dazed. Duo opened his eyes.  
  
White ceiling. Light fixture.  
  
A dream.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a high-pitched shriek bellowed from underneath him and Duo jumped in shock and landed on the cold floor.  
  
Chang Wufei thrashed in bed and threw the bedclothes on the floor beside Duo. "Maxwell, what the FUCK do you think you're doing?!?!?"  
  
Duo stared.  
  
Wufei did a double take. "Maxwell?!?! Shit! I'm hallucinating again!" The Chinese boy leveled a pistol at Duo's forehead. "Leave me alone!"  
  
"Now, Wu-man, calm down." Duo soothed. //That nightmare I was having. I must have phased right through the bed and the ceiling.// "Don't do anything rash."  
  
Wufei was trembling and practically crying. "Get away from me. Get the hell away from me!"  
  
Duo gritten his teeth. "Wufei...get a hold of yourself. It's really me. Duo. You wouldn't shoot me would ya?!?"  
  
"Don't tempt me...demon." Wufei spat.  
  
"Wu...not a demon, just your regular old God of Death. You're having a nightmare, or something, or...Wu..."   
  
Wufei was about five shades paler than he should have been. "You're dead. I was there."  
  
"Hey, so was I. But I'm here now, aren't I?" Duo edged closer. "You're flipping out. I'm sorry, I fell through the ceiling. Must have scared the crap outta you. Now put down the gun."  
  
"You can't fool me." Wufei didn't falter. "You're not Duo. Duo's dead. Stop screwing with me!"  
  
Duo jumped back. "Fei-kun! Take it easy, I'm not here to hurt you. Seriously."  
  
"Then go the hell away." Wufei pulled the trigger and Duo fell into a miasma of pain.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
------------------------  
  
Shi-chan: Well, damn. Think I could swing just one more chapter tonight?  
Duo: You just got me shot...  
Shi-chan: Give me an hour or so, and Chapter 8 will be ready to go. Arigatou!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Sweet Torture

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
MONDAY:  
  
  
Duo: Last one for tonight.  
Shi-chan: Yup. Definitely.  
Duo: Ikimashou!  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 9  
SHOUNEN-AI, SAP, ANGST, CUSSING, CITRUS, GUNDAM BOY TORTURE, UNCLOTHED DUO, ETC, ETC!  
Um...in this part we get a 'lil bit graphic, at least for my standards, but nothing that would even vaguely qualify as lime or lemon. It's just a bit more than what you'd usually find in my writing.  
  
  
  
Duo sunk to the floor, clutching his injured leg and groaning. "Shiiiiit....what'dja do that for?!?"  
  
Wufei stared at the gun, stared at the crimson blood staining the floor.   
  
"Well, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck." Duo pressed his hand against the wound as hard as he could. The bullet didn't seem to have hit any major arteies, he was glad to note. He probably wouldn't be able to walk on that leg for a while though.  
  
Wufei stared at the gun.  
  
Duo looked up. "Damn. Uh, you okay, Wu-man?"  
  
The Chinese pilot didn't answer. He slid to his knees and reached a shaking hand out, dipped it in the pool of blood. Duo watched in horrified fascination.  
  
Wufei held up his bloodstained hand. "This isn't what killed you. You're stronger than that."  
  
"Uh...thanks, I think." Duo grinned weakly.  
  
"You weren't as weak as they were. How could you be so strong? How could you be such an *idiot* and be so strong?!?" Wufei yelled.  
  
The confused Duo shook his head. It seemed that everone was losing their minds lately. No big surprise. He reached out and took Wufei's hand and held it in his own. "Wu-man?"  
  
"Duo, am I dead?"  
  
"No. But you just about killed me....again."  
  
Wufei seemed to snap back to reality. "Shimatta! Are you okay?"  
  
Duo grimaced. "Flesh wound."  
  
"I don't understand." The Chinese pilot tore a strip off his shirt and tied it around the injury. "Duo, I'm so weak."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Duo retorted. "This is *my* fault!"  
  
"I can't face my fears...I'm still not. I'm afraid you're going to disappear from right before my eyes. I was afraid of what you might be...or might *not* be."  
  
"Daijobu, Wu-man, I shouldn't have come crashing down on you like that."  
  
"You know, Maxwell, you owe me a huge explaination." Wufei clutched Duo's wrist as if assuring himself that it was really real. "Have I dreamed the past few weeks, or am I dreaming now?"  
  
"It's a long story, Wu. Long, and complicated."  
  
Suddenly Quatre came barging into the room, breathless. "Did you hear--!?"  
  
Duo looked up, concerned. "Hear what?"  
  
Quatre stared at the pool of blood surrounding the two boys on the floor. "Oh, Allah..."  
  
"Oh! That. Um, Wu-man and I had a spat. I'm fine." Duo lifted his hand from the bloody peice of cloth. "Sorry if we woke you guys up."  
  
"No problem." Quatre knelt down. "What happened?"  
  
Duo looked embarassed. "Ano...I had a nightmare about Heero. I tried to phase in my dream and ended up phasing right through Fei-kun's ceiling. He got a rude awakening."  
  
"I beleive I mistook Maxwell for an intruder." Wufei said stiffly. "So I shot him."  
  
"My own fault." Duo grinned. "On the plus side, Wu-man can see me too! I think maybe you might be right about the possession thing, although I don't know why it didn't work on Heero."  
  
Quatre sighed. "Oivey..."  
  
Duo looked slightly alarmed. "We didn't wake up Heero, did we?"  
  
"I don't think you even woke up Trowa. I'm in the room next door--" he pointed at the wall "--but it took me a minute to figure out where the shot came from."  
  
"Good." Duo was relieved. "I'm going to bandage this up and get some fresh clothes. Could you explain what's going on to Wu-man?"  
  
"Sure, and I'll get this cleaned up." Quatre grimaced. "That blood's going to stain the floor. Are you going to be okay?"  
  
"Fine, fine." Duo stood and limped to the door. "I'll just sleep on the couch again and save myself the trouble of climbing the stairs again. I might wake up in the kitchen tomorrow morning, watch out." He shot Wufei a grin. "See ya tomorrow, buddy. Let's see if you thought it was a dream!"  
  
Laughing despite the pain, Duo closed the door and left the sputtering Wufei behind.  
  
  
  
------------------------  
  
  
  
The American boy dripped blood all the way back to the bathroom and his own, familiar room. Heero was sound asleep--looking peaceful for once--and facing the full-length mirror on the closet doors, making it seems as though two Heeros dozed peacefully in the large room.   
  
Duo sat on the floor and peeled off his blood-slicked black pants to inspect the shot wound. It didn't seem to be too bad, then again Duo hadn't actually been shot very often. He wrapped gauze around it to stop the blood and removed the rest of his clothing, tossing them in a soaked heap on the floor. He was glad it wasn't carpeted.  
  
Standing on his good leg, Duo opened the large closet and shuffled through the stacks of Heero's clothes for his own, but could find none.  
  
Duo frowned. His stuff had been in there yesterday, hadn't it? Had Heero taken it out? //Damn.//  
  
The lithe pilot limped his way back to the bathroom to get a robe instead, pausing for a moment to run a brush through his chestnut hair. The beautiful brown waves were streaked with red now, much to Duo's dismay. He didn't dare get a shower until his leg stopped bleeding at least.  
  
Duo checked behind the door, but his robe was missing. He had worn it just that morning. //What's going on?//  
  
Had Heero finally flipped out, and thrown out all of Duo's stuff so he wouldn't have to remember? Duo hoped not. At the moment all he was wearing was his gold cross necklace and his hip-length chestnut hair, unbraided. The Deathscythe pilot slowly limped his way back to their room and checked the closet once again.   
  
Nothing.  
  
He closed the door in dismay and jumped when he found Heero Yuy's colbalt eyes staring over his shoulder into the mirror. Duo's knees dropped out from under him rather abruptly and he stared up at the Wing pilot for several long seconds. Heero just....stared. Gazed into the mirror at the sapphire eyes.   
  
Duo climbed to his feet. "Heero?"  
  
The dazed pilot did not react.  
  
Duo almost cried then and there. Heero's glazed eyes stared at everything and nothing, stared through Duo, stared through themselves. It was like everything that had made Heero alive had just leaked out of them.  
  
The Deathscythe pilot came up behind Heero and looked over his shoulder into the mirror. "Heero...God, I wish you weren't going through this. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."  
  
"He left me." Heero said coldly to his reflection. "You'd come back to haunt me, eh, Duo? It's sweet torture. It's like I could reach out and touch you, but you'd melt away in my arms. Turn to dust. Don't you know, I couldn't take that? I could join you. But I'm a coward, Duo, a coward. I'm dead. The only person left is the Perfect Soldier, and the Perfect Soldier doesn't love anyone. Heero Yuy is dead."  
  
Duo was struck speechless. "Heero..."  
  
Heero screamed in torture and slammed his fist against the mirror, shattering it into a thousand peices. "Heero Yuy is DEAD!!!"  
  
"Oh God, oh God..." Duo was trembling now as Heero raged. "Heero...please don't do anything stupid..."  
  
"NOOOOOO!!!" Heero threw himself at the wall with incredible force, and Duo heard a sickening crack. The Japanese pilot slumped to the floor unconscious.  
  
"Heero!" Duo cried, running to his lover's side. "Oh God, oh God..." The American checked Heero's pulse--normal. Despite the violence he had employed, there was no visible injury on his tear-streaked face or on the side of his head. Duo held his koi in his arms, shaking and sobbing, rocking back and forth. He couldn't stand to see Heero in pain. He ran his slim fingers through the brown hair, kissed the tears away, kissed the soft pink lips he had been hungering for. Heero moaned--in pain? pleasure?  
  
Duo couldn't stand it anymore. He gave in to the feelings raging within him, anything to stop the loneliness and fear bottling up inside him. He kissed Heero passionately, begging his forgiveness aloud, asking him to wake up, please, anything if Heero would just wake up and look into his eyes! But Heero just lay there, his head lolling against Duo's bare chest, his cold fingers slack in Duo's. //God, if anyone walked in on this,// Duo thought, //they'd be scared shitless.// Duo was sitting naked in the middle of the floor with blood gushing out of his injured leg, chestnut hair unbound and flying all over the place. Heero was unconscious in Duo's lap, blood streaming from his injured fist and numerous cuts on his arms. There was glass everywhere, stabbing into Duo's bare legs and sparkling on the floor from the moonlight streaming in the window.  
  
Duo finally put his hand behind Heero's back and sat him up, still cradling him and rocking back and forth. Heero raised a shaking hand to touch the wild chestnut hair and sunk his fingers into it, sending shivers up Duo's spine as well as making him start in surprise.  
  
Duo looked down and saw a glint of the sapphire eyes he longed for. "Heero! Ohmygodyourokayyoureokay--" Duo, swamped with relief, kissed Heero as though he never would again. Heero's warm lips pressed against his, warm and inviting, they invited Duo to come join them. The ice-blue eyes were closed again, shut tightly in ecstasy. Duo just took in all the pleasure, the warmth, the touch he'd been missing, the slim hands running through his hair, the strong arms curled around his waist. He had missed all of that so much. He just sat there and took it all in.   
  
"I miss you." Heero said finally. "I need you. But you're going to melt away on me aren't you? Like the others. The Duo in bed with me. The one with pain in his eyes, how did you get such pain in your eyes? That's how I know it's not real. I can love you tonight for that sparkle, but I can see Death just behind. I'm the Perfect Soldier. I don't love. The part of me that loved Duo died with him.  
  
Duo didn't know what to say.  
  
"I'm sorry, my little reaper." Heero continued. "Stalk me if you will. I've seen you. You won't seduce me, I've slept with Death too many times already. He'll be coming for me soon, don't you see? You can't taunt me much longer." He gave a satisfied smile. Then the ice-blue eyes closed and he went limp in Duo's arms.  
  
//Aa, Gods, is this my punishment, finally? My own personal heaven, my own personal hell?//  
  
Duo stood and carried Heero over to his bed. //In that case, you're not getting me without a fight.//  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
------------------------  
  
Shi-chan: I just had the most horrible idea, and I am deathly afraid that I may actually write it.  
Duo: *Fell asleep during GW and never woke up to help with the rest of the fic* Zzzzz....  
Shi-chan: Let's just say that this fic might be turning very dark and lime-ish and weird very soon. Ye gods, it turned dark already! What have I done?!? Aw, nuts...there's more swearing, kissing, and citrus in this chapter alone than in the rest of my fics all put together. Oh dear.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Demon

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
MONDAY:  
  
  
Duo: What is wrong with you woman? Do you not need sleep or something?  
Shi-chan: I....like...this...fic...  
Duo: Oi, oi....  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 10  
SHOUNEN-AI, SAP, ANGST, CUSSING, CITRUS, GUNDAM BOY TORTURE, ETC, ETC!  
BE PREPEARED FOR LARGE AMOUNTS OF ANGST AND TORTURE, EVIL, EVIL EVIL! Hwo did this fic get so *dark*?!?  
This part will be shorter than most of the rest. I had no homework tonight and other than watching GW, all I did was write write write. This fic seems to be getting fairly popular, and I really really really like it. But I think I spent too much time reading dark fics this afternoon, I am in a really dark mood and what I am about to do is horrible. Forgive me.  
  
  
  
  
Duo half-limped and half-ran into the living room and threw himself on the couch. //No way. This can't happen.//  
  
Heero seemed to think he was some sort of demon. He was, wasn't he? This was torture. This was completely beyond everything. Heero, his Heero, had practically rejected him. True, it seemed Heero didn't know he really *was* Duo, but the things he had said still hurt. 'Death in his eyes...' Duo wiped away tears to get up and look in the mirror. He couldn't see what Heero saw, neither did he see the sparkle everyone claimed was his best quality. HIs eyes were dead, emotionless.  
  
//Dead.//  
  
//What are you so afraid of? He was right, you're dead, you're Death, you're a demon. You've changed, Duo Maxwell. Are you even really Duo Maxwell anymore?//  
  
He didn't know.  
  
He stepped back and regarded himself in the mirror. Long, luxurious hair, peircing violet eyes, sculpted chest, firm abdomen, slim hips and legs--the boy had a body that anybody would kill for, male or female. He had always been proud of himself, proud of his looks and his attitude and his personality. Now that Duo seemed to have been sucked into this new one, the sad, grim one with Death hiding just behind the indigo eyes and all sparks of life long ago crushed.   
  
//I was right all along. Why didn't I notice it before? I'm not just the God of Death, I *am* Death. Everything that was alive within me has been snuffed out.//  
  
//And I don't care anymore.//  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
That was how Quatre found him the next morning, on the floor, wearing nothing and crying in his sleep. The little Arab picked up Duo gently and carried him into one of the spare bedrooms. The American whimpered a little bit and clutched a handful of his hair.  
  
//What's happened to him? I don't understand...// Quatre carefully closed the door and went to find his friend some clothes. When he knocked on the door to Heero's room he got no answer, so he stepped inside.  
  
The room was a wreck. There was glass and blood scattered all over the floor and, Heero was lying on the bloodsoaked bed gasping and crying out, locked in some kind of nightmare.  
  
"Heero!" Quatre ran to the Japanese pilot, whose arms and legs were streaked with blood. "Heero, wake up!"  
  
Heero cracked his eyes open a small bit. "Quatre, the devil came for me last night."  
  
"What?" The blonde boy gasped at all the cuts on Heero's body. "What happened to the mirror?"  
  
"I broke it," Heero said simply. "Sorry."  
  
"Daijobu, my friend. Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm all right. He came to me in a dream last night, you know."  
  
"Who?" Quatre was afraid of the answer.  
  
"Duo. But it wasn't the real one, not the Duo I knew. His eyes were dead. He's following me, I see him everywhere. He acts just like Duo, looks just like him...but his eyes are dead."  
  
Quatre had already seen that in the *real* Duo's eyes, not long ago. Whenever he thought about Heero, it seemed.   
  
"He's going to catch up to me soon, you know." Heero's voice abruptly took Quatre out of his reverie.  
  
"Who, Duo?" Quatre didn't like where the conversation was going.  
  
"No, the demon." Heero smiled serenely. "He was so beautiful...so perfect...I want to give in to him, Quatre, I really do. But then, the real Duo..."  
  
Quatre began to sweep up the glass. "Oh, Heero."   
  
"I'm trying to forget, I really am, Quatre. I took all his clothes out of the closet. I've hidden away his hairthings and his hat, I've put his possessions away. I don't think it's enough."  
  
"No?" Quatre felt so sympathetic, but he felt he should be worrying more about Duo at the moment.  
  
At that point Duo strode into the room, wearing a pair of Heero's spandex shorts and a tank top. His face was red with blood and sweat and tears, his glorious hair was frenzied and wild, his eyes seemed to peirce holes right through Quatre's soul.  
  
Quatre held his breath. Did Heero see Duo? The Japanese boy stared blankly ahead as Duo stood in the doorway, hands in fists, breathing hard. "You don't want me."  
  
Heero looked at Quatre and quietly said, "Thanks for cleaning up the mess."  
  
"No...problem." Quatre was disappointed and feeling quite sorry for Duo. Duo marched right up to him and looked Quatre in the eyes. "Forgive me, my friend. I'm about to betray that trust that you put in me."  
  
Suddenly Quatre wasn't in control of himself anymore, and wasn't surprised.  
  
/Don't do anything you'll regret later./  
  
//THERE'S NOTHING LEFT FOR ME!// Duo screamed inside their head. //He doesn't see me, he still can't, he said the most horrible things last night! Quatre, you don't get it, he was telling the truth, you were right, he was right, I'm *dead* and my eyes are lifeless and my soul is shattered! I am DEATH! And there's nothing you or anyone else can *do* to change that!//  
  
/Duo..../ the anguish in Duo's voice struck Quatre to the core.  
  
Duo, still in control of Quatre's body, got up on the bed with Heero, whose eyes were closed. "Heero..."  
  
The ice-blue orbs shot open.   
  
Duo reached out to touch Heero's chin, make him look into Quatre's aquamarine eyes. "Heero...I..."  
  
Quatre almost couldn't stand to look, but he was mesmerized. He didn't even attempt to wrest control of his body back from Duo. /So much pain.../  
  
Duo leaned in and kissed Heero deeply, and Quatre couldn't help but wonder whether the American pilot was as mad as he seemed. Heero sat there, coldly, not pushing Duo away, not returning his love.  
  
"What's wrong?" Duo purred, licking a droplet of blood from Heero's cheek.  
  
"Demon." Heero's eyes were vacant, staring.   
  
"Heero! How can you say that?!" Duo was obviously shaken up. Quatre surmised that he wouldn't be in control much longer.  
  
"Easily. I'll kill you, you devil." Heero was dead serious. Tears were starting to stream from 'Duo's' eyes.  
  
"Heero...please...I don't know why you think that, I don't see how...Duo Maxwell *is* a demon! The God of Death!" he almost screamed. "Nothing has changed, but the real Duo is dying, he's dying dying dying and *you're* the one killing him!"  
  
"He's already dead." Heero said simply. "Soon you'll be, too. Or maybe I'll be the one that ends up dead. It doesn't really matter to me."  
  
"IT MATTERS TO ME!" Duo screamed. "I know it's hard to beleive! It's impossible! But I'm the real Duo. If I'm a demon, than I always was. Please don't do this to me, Heero!"  
  
Quatre shivered when Heero burned his steely gaze into him. "Demon...you can stalk me as much as you want, I'll just end my life earlier. But do not try to tell me that you're Duo, not with those cold eyes. I know better. Release Quatre, and leave me alone."  
  
Duo relinquished control suddenly, but Quatre was too busy crying to care. He could feel Duo's pain as real as if it were his own. /Is there nothing I can do?/  
  
//Kill me. Kill me. But I'm already dead.//  
  
/Duo!/  
  
//This is hell!//  
  
Quatre just lay there, sobbing, Duo screaming in anguish inside his head, Heero glaring darkly at him from above.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
Shi-chan: Damn, I'm gonna explode.  
Duo: You have no right to complain!  
Shi-chan: I don't even know if I can *post* this! It's horrible!  
Duo: You warned 'em fair and square...  
Shi-chan: Ack! *Goes insane and apologizes profusely to the people who her fics for their fluff factor--if they got this far* So sorry! Really!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. Death In Your Eyes

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
TUESDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Looks like part 10 came off better than I had thought!  
Duo: Hai...  
Shi-chan: Raedy to go? I probably won't be needing much sleep tonight either!  
Duo: Baka ne, that's cause you slept right through your alarm clock and all your classes today!  
Shi-chan: Hn...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 11  
SHOUNEN-AI, SAP, ANGST, CUSSING, CITRUS, GUNDAM BOY TORTURE, ETC, ETC!  
  
  
  
  
Quatre finally got up enough energy to lift his weary head and wipe the tears from his eyes. "Oh, Heero..."  
  
"Get away from me." he spat.  
  
Quatre felt Duo's consciousness retract even furthur.  
  
"Heero, it's Quatre. Please explain what's going on..." Quatre looked into Heero's ice-blue gaze.  
  
Heero's expression hardened. "Quatre. He's controlling you."  
  
"No, Heero, it's okay, I don't mind! Really. Why are you *acting* like this?" Quatre ran shaking fingers through his platinum-blonde hair. "Duo's in pain because of you."  
  
"No." His face softened for a moment. "Quatre, you were right all along. Duo's dead and he's not coming back. No matter how much I'd like to beleive that that demon is Duo, I can't. I know he's dead. I was trained as a soldier, Quatre, and all I done is weaken myself. Accepting death is what I need to do. Duo's, and mine."  
  
"Heero, please, I'm telling you! It really is Duo! He's only acting like this because he thinks you've rejected him!"  
  
"Aa, but is that Quatre talking, or the demon?" Heero glared at the blonde. "I can still see him in you, you know. Your eyes flash violet. They see right through me. I know he's in there with you--force him out!"  
  
//I'm so sorry, Quatre,// Duo sobbed inside Quatre's head. //I'll go.//  
  
/No! Wait!/ Quatre cried. "Duo!"  
  
Then suddenly he was facedown on the bed.  
  
  
  
----------------------  
  
  
  
"Quatre..." Heero put a hand on the little Arab's shoulder and he started back to reality.  
  
"Oh, Allah! Where did he go!?" Even more tears were welling up in the aquamarine eyes now. But Duo was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"He's very convincing, you know. He fell through the floor." Heero pointed at the dark wood.  
  
Quatre was torn between convincing the mislead Heero or chasing Duo downstairs. "Why don't you beleive him? Why don't you think that's Duo?"  
  
"I almost did before I came to my senses. But Duo's *dead.* The dead can't come back, we both know that. I held his body, I closed his eyes, I stood at his grave. Hard to beleive it was only a week ago, isn't it? I've stopped grieving already. I had to. It's not that I don't love Duo, I do, with all my heart and soul...but I'm sure he's happier, whereever he is, and it won't be long before we'll see each other again."  
  
"Heero...you can't mean..."  
  
Heero gave Quatre a rare smile. "I can't live without him...I *won't* live without him. I had a dream that he came to me, one night. I was trying to kill myself again. I flew, for just a while, I was soaring and my life flashed before my eyes. I should have been scared. But I could feel him all around me, reaching for me, begging me not to do it. It was too late. I was sitting in a pool of black and I saw him, grinning that idiotic grin at me, tipping his hat. He came over and sat beside me and looked in my eyes. It's those eyes...so full of life and laughter and love...and then he bent down and kissed me, told me he loved me, smiled sadly and said good-bye. I wouldn't let go. I couldn't let him leave! Not again! But then I woke up, and it wasn't Duo there, it was you. It felt so real. I think it *was* real. But then he was gone. And a few minutes later...the demon came."  
  
Quatre gritted his teeth. It seemed everything was coming out now.  
  
Heero looked at the rumpled bedsheets beneath him. "I thought I'd gone insane. I saw Duo standing in the door way of the living room staring at me. I thought I was seeing things. I turned my back on him. He came closer...told me 'Ashiteru, Heero,'...god, the sound of his voice made me shiver. I just kept looking away. I didn't want to beleive he was real. He *couldn't* be real! It was impossible. He came over in front of me and he was glowing blue, and then the firelight made him glow red. Blood red. I could see right through his body, I could see the light dancing on the wall behind him. I didn't move. He just...blinked at me, and all the life just drained out of those sad eyes. Just like the life drained out of him in that hospital room. Then he left.  
  
I sat there. Thinking of ways to kill myself. I was there for hours, I didn't move. He came back, that demon Duo. Watched me. He didn't speak anymore...I couldn't even bring myself to look at him. I went up to bed and left him there."  
  
Quatre took it all in, gaping at the Japanese boy.  
  
Heero continued. "After that, he was everywhere. I woke up in the night and there he was beside me, sleeping with his eyes open, half-transparent and barely even there. I thought he was awake at first. Tried to touch him, see if he was real. But my hand went right through him...and then I looked into those eyes, and what I saw scared me. Scared the Perfect Soldier.  
  
"He was making sounds in the back of his throat like he was being strangled, and his eyes were so wild. No pupils at all. I wouldn't have even thought it was Duo if it wasn't for the hair, the clothes. His eyes turned red, and then they were purple again, staring at nothing. It scared me, having him there. I hated it that someone--or something--that was so close to being Duo would be like that. I don't want to remember Duo like that. Not with those dead eyes and that maniacal laugh, breathing hard and glowing red and blue. I can't stand it!" Heero slammed a fist onto the bed. "He's *everywhere*! He watches me! Thinks I can't see him. Walks in front of me, stares at me, and I think he's longing for me, but I'm not sure because there's *nothing* in his eyes! No expression at all! That sparkle I knew so well, anger, fear, hatred, nothing! Nothing! Do you know what it's like," he said coldly, "to look at the one you love and see nothing, no feeling at all?"  
  
Quatre couldn't beleive what he was hearing. Heero was right, so right, the sparkle had left Duo Maxwell and Quatre and Duo and Heero all knew it, and what could they do? It was in Heero's hands now. Heero's decision to speak to Duo or not.  
  
"Then," Heero said, "it got even worse. I woke up last night and he was standing in my room, looking through the closet. He wasn't wearing anything...there was blood all over him. On his arms and legs, in that beautiful hair, smeared on his back and chest like some kind of tribal warrior. He left and came back...he was angry. He went to the closet again and I got up, stood right behind him. I wondered if there was anything in his eyes now, pain, anger, fear? He looked right at me in the mirror and actually looked surprised. I thought I saw a flash of...something...the way we looked at me. But I wasn't looking at him anymore, I was looking at the mirror, and all I could see was myself. My eyes were as dead as his. I don't know if they ever *were* any different, but when I was with him in peacetime, I thought they were, I thought I could be just as expressive in the way I looked at Duo as he did looking at me. But...that Heero's gone now. He died with Duo, I think. Maybe I was delerious, maybe I was just coming to see something I should have seen long ago...the demon stood from where he had fallen. He apologized...and I thought it was really Duo. But that logic is always there, taunting me, haunting me, he's dead he's dead he's dead and he's not coming back; Duo's not, I'm not, both of our lives ended a week ago. I looked at myself--I don't know which Duo I was trying to talk to. Both of them, maybe. I think the demon knew what I was going to say anyway...I couldn't look at myself anymore. I broke the mirror, but the demon didn't go away, and I knew that that expressionless Heero Yuy was still there too, feeling nothing, being nothing. I had to get away from both of them. Threw myself at the wall. But nothing worked."  
  
Tears had started to make their way down Heero's cheeks. "I woke up, and Duo was holding me, crying. I thought...I thought it might have been the real Duo, come back to save me from myself, like the one I thought saved me on the cliff. But it couldn't be possible...there was blood everywhere. It was the demon that looked so much like Duo, pain in his eyes; love, sorrow, longing. I couldn't look into those eyes I had been longing for. They weren't real. Couldn't be real. I'm the Perfect Soldier, you see...the Perfect Soldier can't be weak. We both knew that. I told him that. Then all of a sudden that old Duo was gone again, and the demon was back, only this time I saw something else in the violet eyes. Pain, death, anger...it was all there. I wasn't going to let him seduce me any more. Once I...leave...he can't get to me anymore. I won't have to look at those blank eyes, yearn for his body and the soul that once occupied it. Duo Maxwell is dead...and I'm not going to be far behind."  
  
With that, he got up and left.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-----------------  
  
Duo: Well SHIT!  
Shi-chan: Language, Duo hun...  
Duo: Sheeeeet...  
Shi-chan: Whoops, time for Gundam. Maybe I'll get another chapter done tonight after it's over, okay?  
Duo: *in shock* Whatever...  
  
  



	12. The Real Duo Maxwell

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
TUESDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Arg...one more...  
Duo: Why don't you add some varitety for once and put Trowa or Wufei in this chapter?  
Shi-chan: They'll get to say their peice...eventually...  
Duo: oi, oi...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 12  
SHOUNEN-AI, SAP, ANGST, CUSSING, DEATH, GUNDAM BOY TORTURE, ETC, ETC!  
  
  
Quatre stared at the door from which Heero had left for what seemed like forever. "Heero..."  
  
He winced. "How much of that could you be right about, Heero? All he wants is you..."  
  
Panic rising in his throat, Quatre jumped off the blood-soaked bed and ran out the door and down the stairs, screaming Duo's name. He ran into Trowa in the hallway. "Trowa! Have you seen Duo?"  
  
"No..." The unibanged pilot observed the blood spatters on Quatre's clothing. "God, what happened!?"  
  
"I've got to find him!" Quatre cried, blowing past Trowa and out the front door. "Before he does anything stupid..."  
  
/Duo, you fool. Where are you?/ The little Arab checked around the house and the empty streets, the park where they had been the day before, the playground where Duo had sat on the swings.   
  
/What was that about a cliff? Heero was going to throw himself off a cliff!/ But Quatre didn't know where it could be. The nearest body of water was an ocean cove not far away...was that what the American had been talking about?  
  
It was his best bet. Quatre turned back and ran as fast as he could toward the secluded spot.  
  
  
  
--------------------  
  
  
  
The out-of-breath Sandrock pilot arrived at the cliff and ran to the edge, praying that he wasn't too late.   
  
He peered down into the raging water, but saw nothing. No flash of chestnut was visible in the waves--maybe Duo wasn't here after all? Or maybe he was already gone...  
  
Quatre spotted something shining in the grass and dropped to his knees. It was a small gold cross on a broken chain, one that he recognized instantly. Duo had been here.  
  
"DUO!" Quatre screamed in anguish. "Oh, God, no!"  
  
"I don't know if it's even possible to die twice." a familiar voice said behind him. "I'm still deciding whether I want to find out."  
  
Quatre whirled and spotted Duo up in a tree near him, calmly braiding his hair. The leathery wings were back, tucked behind him as if for balance. Duo smiled sadly at the Arabian. "I couldn't do it."  
  
"I'm glad! It's not too late to convince Heero..." Quatre ran to the tree and climbed it with almost no difficulty. He sat next to Duo and handed him the necklace.  
  
Duo regarded the chain in sorrow. "It's broken..." Quatre knew there were some words the other pilot was leaving unsaid. "Do you hate me now too, Quatre?"  
  
"Of course not!" Quatre looked at Duo in surprise. "Why would you think that?"  
  
"You didn't follow me...and...I know I did something terrible, betraying you like I did..." Duo picked at a peice of bark with his slim fingers.  
  
"Aa, Duo-kun...I meant what I said, you are one of my best friends and that's not going to change. Besides, you've done worse."  
  
Duo looked a little stricken. "Like what?"  
  
Quatre regarded him sternly. "Like...that time you put honey in my shampoo, covered me with shaving cream while I slept, locked me outside all night, threw me in the lake while I was sleeping, prank-called all my sisters, left love notes for Wufei in my name, hid all the teabags in the house...let's just say that possessing me isn't that big a deal after living with Duo Maxwell."  
  
Duo actually laughed. "Ah, the memories! God, your reactions were priceless...I've got a picture of you with the honey in your hair, by the way!" Quatre could not have been more pleased to see that familiar sparkle return to the indigo eyes. /What could I have been thinking? All this isn't his fault...Heero's the only one who can bring him back for good!/  
  
Duo was still chattering as usual. "And, when Wu-man found out it was me after all and started sending notes back in Trowa's name...oh, God! I wonder does he even know about that!?" Duo had gone into peals of laughter and Quatre couldn't help but join in. "The poor guy!"  
  
Quatre shook his head, still smiling. "See what I mean? No one can stay mad at you for long!"  
  
Duo's laughter subsided and he retracted his wings carefully, but Quatre noticed that the merriment still hadn't left his eyes and he was still grinning like an idiot. "Thanks, man."  
  
"For what? I just reminded you how much of a great friend you've been. To all of us."  
  
Duo sighed heavily. "It's not enough for Heero."  
  
"It's not his fault," Quatre reassured. "He's just wary because this whole situation is so impossible. He'll see soon enough...he's never stopped loving you. He just can't beleive that it's actually you."  
  
"What can I do?" Duo tore at the bit of bark. "Unless I possess someone, I can't even speak to him. And then he yells at me, and I feel guilty."  
  
"Oh, Duo. You didn't know..." Quatre gulped, praying that this little peice of information wasn't going to take away the hope he was suddenly seeing in Duo's indigo eyes. "He's seen you all along, and wasn't beleiving his eyes."  
  
"What?" Duo looked up in shock.  
  
"He thought he was imagining it when you first came and sat with him, that night in the living room. And then..." Quatre drew a deep breath. "You scared him."  
  
"*I* did?" Duo asked incredoulously.  
  
"Duo...he said...that you were breathing hard in your sleep, and your eyes were turning red...he was frightened."  
  
"Maybe I really am a demon." Duo said glumly. "But did I claim to be anything else? A killer, a fighter...Shinigami, the God of Death..."  
  
"Show me." Quatre said simply.  
  
"What, my eyes?" Duo gaped at him. "I don't think you really want to see that."  
  
"Show me," he said sternly.  
  
Duo, his face falling, looked down. "Aa..."  
  
Quatre watched the violet orbs with interest. Duo continued to stare downwards, his gaze all but hidden by the long chestnut bangs. Quatre reached out gently and tipped his chin up.  
  
/He was right./ Quatre realized. The beautiful pools of indigo stared forward, and then the pupils disappeared. Everything was violet, that soft shade of violet that Quatre knew so well. Duo started to tremble a little and his eyes flashed crimson, just for a minute, before returning to the lovely prussian. They flickered that way several times, Duo making mewling sounds in the back of his throat, until the American boy's body went slack and Quatre had to grab him to keep him from falling out of the tree.  
  
The little Arab held Duo with his left arm for only a few seconds before he toppled off the limb, clutching it possesively with his right arm while holding Duo as tightly as possible against his chest with his left. He let go of the branch and fell the remaining few feet to the ground.  
  
Duo came to groggily, sitting on Quatre's legs. "Shit."  
  
Quatre eased himself out from under the American and looked at his face. "You okay?"  
  
"M'fine," he mumbled. "Sorry."  
  
"It's all right, my friend. Those eyes of yours are fairly unsettling, I'll say."  
  
"So, do you think I'm a demon now or what?" Duo cracked a smile, but Quatre knew his next expression depended on Quatre's answer.  
  
"You're the God if Death, what do you expect? It doesn't change *my* opinion."  
  
Warmth flooded back into the violet orbs, much to Quatre's relief. "Aa! Shinigami it is!" Duo giggled a bit and put a hand behind his head.  
  
/This is what Heero doesn't see,/ Quatre told himself. /All Duo sees when he looks at Heero is loss. He loses a peice of himself every time he does./  
  
The braided baka had jumped to his feet. "Oi, Q-man, can we go back to the house now? I have to torment Wu-man! I bet I can think of a really good story, I don't know...maybe I could sneak up and...hmm..." Duo folded his arms thoughtfully, grinning like an idiot and plotting revenge against Wufei. Quatre couldn't help but smile at the plan he knew Duo had to be cooking up.  
  
"Back to the house it is," Quatre said with finality. "I'll make whatever you like for lunch, okay?"  
  
Even though he had been looking like himself already, Duo's eyes lit up even more at this. Quatre feverently wished he would stay like this for a while. "Really!?"  
  
"Really." Quatre allowed himself to be dragged forcibly away from the tree and the cliff.   
  
"Yatta!" Duo gave him the Maxwell grin and began humming to himself in anticipation.  
  
/Well than./ Quatre still couldn't stop smiling. /It looks like the real Duo Maxwell is back...at least for now./  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
--------------------  
Shi-chan: Happy happy happy happy  
Duo: What's for lunch?  
Shi-chan: You get to choose. I promise.  
Duo: Honto ni?  
Shi-chan: Yep! Whatever it is, that's what Quatre's making!  
Duo: All right!   
  
  
  



	13. Frozen

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
WEDNESDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: I am trying my damned hardest to get two chapters out evey night! Whew!  
Duo: Come on, you know you like staying up till 4 a.m. on school nights...  
Shi-chan: Tell that to my math teacher when I fall asleep in class.... o.O  
Duo: Saa...get to work! Hurry!  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 13  
WARNING! BAD HUMOR AHEAD!  
  
  
  
Duo yawned and stuffed a fourth peice of pizza down his throat. "Aa, I'm so *tired*..."  
  
"Not enough sleep." Trowa said with finality.  
  
"Yeah!" Quatre giggled. "Duo, you didn't get your perscribed 23 hours of sleep a night and now it's catching up!"  
  
"Oi, oi..." Duo grinned and put his forehead down on the table, letting his arms hang limp. "I'm feeling better now...I have food and my own clothes. Thanks a lot, by the way, Q-man."  
  
"No problem. Heero threw them down the laundry chute." Quatre raised an eyebrow. "That guy..."  
  
Duo graoned. "You know who else isn't up yet? Wu-man. Maybe I scared him more than I thought."  
  
"Nah, Wufei's hard to scare. But I think I'll check on him." Quatre stood up and exited the kitchen, leaving Trowa and Duo alone.  
  
Duo smirked into the table, and somehow Trowa knew. "Duo...what are you planning?"  
  
Duo sat back up and put his arms behind his head. "Well, first I was gonna take off all my clothes and sit on the ceiling fan, but I think I might scar him for life or something. Then I thought maybe I could go inside his head and change my voice and talk to him, make him think he was flipping. But with Wu-man...he might *actually* flip. So now I have another plan...you've got decent hearing right? Let me know if you hear then coming back, okay?"  
  
Trowa nodded and Duo returned his head to the table. A few minutes passed and the Deathscythe pilot feel asleep, bringing a chuckle from Trowa at the soft snoring.  
  
A clatter on the staircase. Trowa shook Duo gently. "They're coming."  
  
"Usooooooo!" Duo gave a great yawn and sauntered over to the fridge. He opened the door, phased his body, and crawled in, sitting Indian-style on the top shelf. "Close the door, would you, Trowa?"  
  
Slightly curious, Trowa walked over and shut the fridge door. "What are you planning?"  
  
"You'll see." Duo's voice took on a positively wicked tone. "Just make sure he opens the door before Quatre does."  
  
Trowa shrugged and returned to his place at the table. Quatre and Wufei entered the room together.  
  
"Barton." Wufei nodded cordially at Trowa.  
  
"Morning, Wufei."  
  
Quatre cast a glance around the kitchen. "Where's--" he stopped short. "Where's, uh, my favorite teacup gotten to?"  
  
"It's in the sink." Trowa gestured behind him.  
  
"Teacup..." Wufei looked kind of dazed. Quatre trained a concerned gaze on him. "Fei-kun, are you all right?"  
  
"Uh, yes." Wufei sat down. "I don't think I've been getting my quote of sleep."  
  
"Really?" Trowa looked at him with interest. "But you went to bed so early last night..."  
  
"Having nightmares?" Quatre asked with sympathy.  
  
Wufei looked kind of ticked. "I've been seeing things. It must side effects of my training."  
  
Quatre clucked his tongue. "What have you been seeing?"  
  
"Nothing...nothing." Wufei looked really mad now. "Just things that make me weak. I'm sure they won't come back."  
  
Quatre looked sad. "I've been dreaming a lot about Duo."  
  
Wufei's face froze. "About *Maxwell*?"  
  
"Yeah. Don't you miss him, Wu-kun, even a bit?"  
  
"I don't want to admit it, but not having the braided baka around is a little odd." Wufei's face almost looked...just a little...sad.  
  
Trowa spoke up. "I've been dreaming about him too."  
  
"You have?" Wufei gritted his teeth. "Last night, I dreamed...that I killed him..."  
  
Quatre looked shocked. "No!"  
  
"Hn. It was an accident, but there was so much blood..." Even Wufei looked disturbed now. "Let's talk about something else."  
  
"It's good to get your feelings out in the open." Quatre stated.  
  
Trowa frowned. "You don't look so great, Chang. Maybe you should get something to eat."  
  
"You may be right," Wufei sighed. "I'll do that." He stood and fixed himself a cup of tea.  
  
"Milk's in the fridge," Trowa said helpfully.  
  
"Thank you." Wufei went over to the refridgerator and opened the door. Then he closed it.   
  
Quatre noted the Aisan turning about six shades paler than he should have been. "Wufei?"  
  
"N-n-n-n-n-othing..." he stammered.  
  
Quatre and Trowa came up behind the Chinese boy and Trowa threw open the fridge door. Inside sat Duo Maxwell, faintly glowing with blue energy, sparkling ice crystals already starting to form on his chestnut bangs. He looked up in agony at the three boys. "You killed me!"  
  
Wufei blanched even more. "Maxwell!"  
  
Duo reached out with his shivering blue hand, brought his fingertips within an inch of Wufei's face. "Chang Wufei, you are the one responsible for my death!"  
  
Wufei passed out.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
----------------  
Duo: Heh...good idea, Shi...  
Shi-chan: Thank you. More tonight! 


	14. Death and the Dragon

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
WEDNESDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Damn! This things are going up as fast as I can write them! And I can't *stop!*  
Duo: This is a fic that writes itself...o.O  
Shi-chan: It's true, I swear! I can't control it anymore!  
Duo: Oh no, this isn't another humor chapter is it!?!?  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 14  
WARNING! BAD HUMOR AHEAD! AND SOME OTHER STUFF TOO!  
  
  
  
Duo peered out of the fridge at the Chinese boy lying on the floor.  
  
"That was mean, Duo!" Quatre sat Wufei up and shook him. "Oi! Wufei!"  
  
Trowa gave Wufei a light slap on the cheek. Duo continued to sit calmly on top of the orange juice. "What's up with *him?* Hey, onna! Wake up!"  
  
Wufei groaned and his oynx eyes fluttered open. Duo leered at him from the refridgerator.  
  
"Maxwell..." Wufei touched his cheek where Trowa had slapped him. "You're dead."  
  
Duo considered keeping the joke going, but instead hopped out of the cold box and landed on the ground beside Wufei, solidifying as he did so. Wufei almost jumped right out of his skin.  
  
"Oi, Wu-man." Duo grinned at his friend and touched one icy finger to the Aisan's nose. "Miss me?"  
  
"This cannot be happening." Wufei closed his eyes and shook his head. "It cannot, it cannot, it cannot."  
  
"But here I am. Are you telling me you don't even remember shooting me last night?" Duo pulled Wufei to his feet.  
  
Wufei shivered at Duo's freezing touch. "I was dreaming. I must be dreaming now."  
  
Duo danced around the other boy in glee, batting Wufei's ponytail with his hand. "Nope! No dream! I came back just to tormet you!"  
  
Quatre sighed. "Duo..."  
  
The American stopped. "Hai?"  
  
The little Arab gently pulled Duo away from Wufei. "You're going to really scare him if you keep this up. Aiya...you're freezing..."  
  
Duo was shivering slightly. "I probably should have turned up the temperature...I was hoping he'd head straight for the fridge instead of having a Deep Thought with you guys first."  
  
"That's what *you'd* do, Duo." Trowa looked at his friend with an almost-smile.  
  
"Oh? Hey, maybe you're right!" Duo bounced over to Wufei. "Wu-man, you all right? You look kind of pale."  
  
"I beleive I deserve some kind of explaination here..."  
  
"Oh, yeah." Duo headed over to the table and flopped back down on it. "Um...I was dead, and now I'm not, but I technically am, and Heero thinks I'm a demon and is trying to kill himself probably as we speak." He stopped and thought about what he had just said. "Damn."  
  
Quatre twitched a blonde eyebrow and walked coolly out of the kitchen. Trowa sat down beside Duo and gestured for Wufei to join him, who reluctantly did so. "Any questions?"  
  
Surprisingly, Wufei looked stumped. "Ano...so that really *was* you that I shot last night...?"  
  
Duo patted his left leg and grimaced. "Yeah. It's not too bad though. It was my fault."  
  
"What, for *shooting* you!?"  
  
"Yeah...being dead comes with a few advantages, such as being able to phase out--kind of turn not-solid, or in-solid, or something. But I accidently phased when I was dreaming and fell right through my bed and the floor. Your ceiling."  
  
"Ah." Wufei looked thoughtful and grabbed Duo's left hand. He gasped at what he felt. "You're so cold...you really *are* dead...I'm sorry, that wasn't tasteful. Forgive me."  
  
"No problem." Duo checked out his hand, which was, now that he noticed it, really cold. "You'd be surprised, Wu-man...I ended up losing a ton of blood last night, between the gunshot wound and Heero breaking the mirror. I think I'm just cold because of the fridge." He stood and went to the sink, turning on warm water and running his hands under it. "Bloody hell...somebody turn up the heat in here..."  
  
"Serves you right for sitting in the fridge, Maxwell!" Wufei cried.  
  
Duo looked stricken. He sat back down and took Wufei's wrist in his hand. "Better?"  
  
"Much." Wufei reached out and touched the American with his free hand. "Should you have a pulse?"  
  
"What, I don't?" Duo drew his hand back quickly and pressed it to his neck.  
  
"No, I mean you *do.* But that's impossible."  
  
"Hey, impossible is what I do best!" he laughed, dropping his arms in releif. "This whole thing is impossible!"  
  
Quatre re-entered the kitchen. "Heero's still asleep."  
  
Duo looked disappointed. "What?! It's 11:30! Lunchtime!"  
  
"Duo, if you hadn't been up all night you'd still be sleeping now." Trowa pointed out.  
  
"Damn, you're right. I'm missing sleep here!" He slumped forward into the puddle of water that had dripped from the precipitation on his hair and clothes. "And now I'm wet."  
  
Wufei had relaxed slightly and his face returned to its proper color. "I must say it's refreshing to have you back, Maxwell."  
  
"Really?" Duo jerked his head up. "I never would have expected you to say that, Fei-kun!"  
  
Wufei gave him a cool smile. "I'm capable of surprising people too."  
  
Duo grinned his trademark grin for the Aisan boy. "Yatta! Never knew you had it in you!"  
  
Trowa just groaned and shook his head.  
  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
  
The unibanged pilot was glad that Duo seemed to be so cheerful--Quatre had explained to him what had happened last night and early that morning. But Duo's reunion with Wufei, his practical joke, and the addition of his usual clothes and personality made it very difficult to see what Quatre was talking about when he spoke of Duo's 'blank eyes.' It seemed that Duo had had more than one mental breakdown since his return, that was understandable. Luckily the braided pilot seemed pretty much back to normal, stuffing even more pizza into his mouth and babbling about something-or-other to Wufei.  
  
Quatre regarded the American with interest. He hoped his pep talk had actually brought Duo back to his senses...it seemed he had, so far. At least until Duo laid eyes on Heero--Quatre didn't want to be around to see that. Maybe he could get Trowa to talk to Duo, but Trowa wasn't that much of a talker.  
  
/Best just to wait it out,/ Quatre thought. /Maybe Duo can fix this without my help./  
  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Shi-chan: Let's not do the next chapter just yet...  
Duo: Lost in thought today, or what?   
Shi-chan: Hn. I'm not thinking to well...the creative juices aren't flowing...  
Duo: :-(  
Shi-chan: Yeah...the total of about 6 hours of sleep I've had over the past 4 days is really disturbing o.O I'm just heading to bed...g'night, minna-san... 


	15. Missing You

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.   
  
---------------------------  
THURSDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Skip the banter, let's jump right in...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 15  
WARNING! SHOUNEN-AI!  
  
  
  
  
Later, Duo was headed down to the living room when he ran into Wufei, holding his sheathed katana. "What's up, Wu-man?"  
  
"Nothing much." Wufei walked past Duo and down the stairs to the basement.  
  
Sensing something more interesting than what he had been about to do, Duo happily followed the Chinese boy into the training room. He then sat down on the floor with his headphones on and closed his eyes.  
  
"Maxwell, what exactly are you doing?" Wufei asked curiously. It wasn't like the American boy to take any interest in Wufei's kata exercises.  
  
"I'm booooored, Wu-man! Are you gonna practice or what?" Duo was swaying a bit with the beat of the music.  
  
"Hmph." Wufei grunted and turned away from Duo, then started practicing slashes with his katana. Duo watched with avid interest.  
  
"You got your chain fixed," Wufei observed, his back still facing the American.  
  
"Yeah!" Duo grinned and fingered the pendant. "Trowa fixed it for me."  
  
"Trowa, eh?" Wufei wondered. "They must have been glad to see you...Duo."  
  
"I guess so...Wu-man, did you miss me?" Duo was still wondering why Wufei hadn't called him 'Maxwell.'  
  
"Well..." Wufei was still wondering that himself. "...yeah. I did."  
  
"Ah! Such devoted friends!" Duo laughed with genuine delight. "Hell on earth or not, I'm sure glad I've got you guys here with me."  
  
"'Hell on earth?'" Wufei wondered.  
  
"Yeah, kind of...did anybody tell you what happened between me and Heero?" Duo suddenly looked sad.  
  
"Not really...you said something about a demon earlier..."  
  
"Yeah, I did." Duo sighed. "Heero doesn't beleive it's really me. He thinks I'm in cohorts with the devil or something to take his soul or god-knows-what. I don't think he's in his right mind actually...that's what hurts the most...it's like he really doesn't recognize me."  
  
"I don't think I catch your meaning." Wufei sheathed his katana and came over to sit beside Duo.   
  
"No? Quatre thinks that Heero's really lost it...he's insisting that he's dead--or rather, a part of him is dead--and lots of other stuff. Last night...he said some awful things. I know he can't help it, it's hard to beleive! But I don't know what I can do to make him come back to me."  
  
The Chinese boy looked thoughtful. "That is somewhat of a dilemma. Have you tried appraoching him when he's alone, maybe getting him to ask you questions no one else would know?"  
  
The American looked surprised. "Good idea, Wu-man. I have to figure out how I can get him alone without him taking off..."  
  
"I'll help, I guess." Wufei smiled at his friend.  
  
"Really!? Wow! Wufei...did you mean it, when you said you missed me?"  
  
Wufei's left eyebrow raised. "Of course...I missed your intolerable chatter, your loud singing in the shower, your tendancy to put empty boxes back in the cupboard, your public displays of affection with Yuy, your annoying American habits and horrible sense of humor and all the jokes you played on me...actually, Maxwell, I missed you quite a bit."  
  
Duo took everything he said as absolute gospel. "Wu-man! I would never have thought!"  
  
"Seriously, though," Wufei looked into Duo's glittering indigo eyes. "I was quite upset...I'm very glad you've come back."  
  
Duo was grinning and trying his best not to crack a joke. "Wufei..."  
  
"And annoying as you are, I am far from wishing unhappiness on either you or Yuy. Go straighten things out." Wufei stood and assisted Duo in getting to his feet.  
  
  
  
------------------------  
  
  
  
Heero, by some luck, was still asleep when Duo and Wufei cracked open his door an inch. "Go on, Maxwell. Best of luck." The Chinese boy gave Duo a gentle shove into the room.  
  
"Thanks." Duo quickly phased and drifted over to the bedside, seating himself on the not-so-solid floor. Then he just watched Heero sleep.  
  
He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. He seemed to almost smile--//Is he dreaming about me?//--and his mouth made a tiny 'o'. Duo longed to kiss the pink lips, but kept his distance. He didn't want Heero to wake up just yet.  
  
A wave of sadness threatened to wash over Duo, but he pushed it away. What right did he have to be sad? He had met his end bravely, died, and then suddenly been granted a second chance that he knew any normal person would long for. He mustn't break down, not when Heero needed him. He couldn't.  
  
Duo observed his sleeping koi with love and regret. Heero's face was pale, thinner than it had been--Duo worried if the Japanese boy had been eating. Heero moaned a bit in his sleep.   
  
"Duo. DUO!" Heero cried, reaching out a hand. Duo jumped to his feet and ran to Heero's side. "Heero? Are you okay?"  
  
"Duo..." Heero opened his eyes a bit and brushed Duo's phased fingertips with his own. "My Duo..."  
  
//This is a big change from last night...// Duo thought worriedly. Not wanting to scare the other pilot, he did not turn solid, just raised a finger to his lips.  
  
Heero studied Duo's pale face intently. He sat up and brought his hand to the side of Duo's face--the shaking fingers passed right through it. "Oh, Duo, koi...could I be dreaming? Is it really you?"  
  
"Ano...it's me..." Duo smiled sadly and put his ethereal fingers against his chest. "Did I scare you?"  
  
"No...oh, Duo..."  
  
"But Heero..." Duo decided he must be missing something vital here. "I thought...last night, the things you said..."  
  
"Last night?" Heero looked confused. "What happened last night? Duo...you can't be here, you can't be real...I'm dreaming..."  
  
Duo had reached the conclusion that Heero wasn't going to give him an answer he wanted. "Last night, I came to you, Heero. You said some terrible things to me..."  
  
"No!" Heero reached for Duo. "Please don't leave! I don't remember anything like that...I've been waiting for you to come back to me! I was going to go to you...I missed you so much..."  
  
"I'm here now, koi." Duo soothed. "Don't worry." //What's wrong with him? How could he forget something like that?//  
  
"Oh, thank God, don't leave me again...my angel..." Heero smiled sadly.  
  
Duo moved a little closer to his lover. "I'll stay as long as you need me."  
  
Heero sighed happily and passed his hand through Duo's leg, catching a blue glow on it. "You're so warm...arigatou, Duo."  
  
Duo nodded. "I'd be happy to. Anything for you."  
  
Heero lay back against his pillows, his fingers resting in the same place as his koi's. "Ah, Duo...I missed you..." He closed his eyes and smiled happily.  
  
"I missed you too, Hee-chan." Duo didn't understand it, the game had just appeared to completely reverse. Was something wrong with Heero?  
  
And more importantly...Duo stuck his transparent fist through the comforter, worried about the problem he had just noticed.   
  
Why couldn't he turn solid anymore?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
------------------------------  
  
Shi-chan: That should make for some interesting action...  
Duo: Why me!?  
Shi-chan: More later tonight...  
  
  
  
  



	16. Split Personalities

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I can't think of a more clever disclaimer...  
  
---------------------------  
THURSDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: 16 coming up...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 16  
WARNING! SHOUNEN-AI!  
  
  
  
  
When he was sure Heero was sleeping peacefully again, Duo dropped through the floor and ended up in the kitchen, where Quatre was buisily cleaning up. "Q-man."  
  
"Hey, Duo." Quatre stacked away the last of the plates and dried his hands on a towel. "How are you?"  
  
"Not good, I'm afraid." Duo looked down at his transparent body. "Um...I'm having a little trouble getting back to normal here."  
  
"What? What do you mean?" Quatre looked Duo up and down. The black-clad boy was barely even visible against the white kitchen walls. His limbs were glowing blue and sparkling.  
  
Duo tried to touch the nearest wall, without much success. "I can't un-phase. It's not that I can't concentrate, but nothing's happening."  
  
"Oh, Allah..." Quatre walked closer and passed his left arm through Duo's chest. Warmth fizzled through the little Arab and he withdrew. "You're absolutely sure you can't get back to normal?"  
  
"Definitely. I was upstairs talking to Heero--well, I was about to--and I didn't want him to freak wen he saw me, and I thought the ghostly look was a little less threatening, so I phased, and now I can't get back...and there's something really wrong with Heero, too. He can't remember fighting with me last night."  
  
What was going on? Quatre didn't know what to say. "But...why would he..."  
  
"Yuy's calling out for Maxwell up there." Wufei had appeared in the doorframe. "I didn't notice you coming out..."  
  
"I went through the floor." Duo grimaced.  
  
"What happened? He's calling your name and he sounds pretty frantic." Wufei gestured at the ceiling.  
  
Heero Yuy shoved his way through the door. "Duo! Where'd you go?"  
  
"See what I mean?" Wufei said dryly.  
  
Duo walked over to his lover. "I'm right here. You were sleeping."  
  
Heero looked like he wasn't sure whether to be angry or releived. "You said you wouldn't leave me!"  
  
"Heero, I just came down to talk to Quatre..."  
  
Heero's face relaxed. "Oh..."  
  
Duo shot Quatre an I-told-you-so look.   
  
Wufei looked at Duo, confused. "So you made up?"  
  
"From what?" asked Heero.  
  
"Ano..."  
  
"Fei-kun...let's leave them alone awhile..." Quatre took the Chinese boy by the wrist and pulled him out of the kitchen.  
  
Worried as he was, Duo couldn't help feeling a little releived at be left for a minute to deal with what was happening. Heero sat down at the table. Duo stood by the counter.   
  
"Duo...I can't tell you how happy I am, just to see you again...are you really okay?"  
  
"Well...I'm dead...but other than that..." Duo cracked a smile.  
  
Heero returned it sadly. "Duo, my love...did it hurt? I'm sorry I couldn't be with you..."  
  
"It only hurt when I realized I wouldn't have you anymore, Hee-chan. Are *you* all right?"  
  
"Saa, I'm fine...although these last days have been a blur." Duo didn't like the rather blank look in Heero's colbalt eyes.  
  
The American pilot was more than a little worried now. "Heero..."  
  
"Duo, you look just like an angel. Is that why you're here?"  
  
Duo was stumped. "Um...actually I'm not sure why I'm here..."  
  
"Either way, I'm glad." The Japanese pilot smiled brightly.  
  
//Something is *definitely* wrong here...//  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
"What do you think, Trowa?" Quatre whispered.   
  
"Did he hit his head or something?" wondered Wufei.  
  
Trowa leaned closer to the door to make out the muffled voices. "Could be."  
  
Suddenly Duo's glowing chestnut head poked through the door. "Guys, I'm really worried. He's grinning like an idiot and he can't remember seeing me at all since...since before."  
  
Wufei jumped back in surprise. "Maxwell, don't *do* that."  
  
"Well, I can't get the door open." he defended himself.  
  
"Oh. Of course." Wufei opened the door and the three pilots streamed in.   
  
"Heero, I'm sorry, but I have things I have to do. How about you talk to the others awhile?" Duo grinned charmingly.  
  
"Hurry back..." Heero pleaded.  
  
Duo turned his back on the group and disappeared.  
  
//Quatre?//  
  
/Yeah?/  
  
//Did I mention that he's being really possessive?//  
  
Heero was brooding to himself already. Wufei pulled up a chair. "Yuy, is something wrong?"  
  
"Duo..." Heero said wistfully. Suddenly something in his expression changed drastically. "No. I must not miss him."  
  
"Yuy?" Wufei said curiously.  
  
"What?" Heero growled.  
  
"Weren't you going to say something?"  
  
His eyes hardened. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Wufei looked puzzled. "What *about* Duo?"  
  
"Don't say that name." Heero said coldly.  
  
Quatre gasped. /Did I miss something?/  
  
"But you were just about to..."  
  
"SHUT UP! He's DEAD, leave me alone already!" Heero leapt to his feet and ran out the door.  
  
Duo immediately got out of Quatre's body. "I think something important just happened."  
  
"No kidding."  
  
"Split personality." Trowa said quietly.   
  
All three pilots turned to the unibanged boy. "You think so?" asked Duo.  
  
"I'm almost sure. He's got symptoms and a cause."  
  
"Well, shit." Duo kicked the wall absently and was surprised to feel pain in his foot. "What the hell...?"  
  
Trowa observed, "Your body's gone back to normal."  
  
"I noticed." Duo hopped up and down on his good foot. "We should probably go after Heero..."  
  
"He went upstairs," Wufei pointed out.  
  
"Got it." The three boys ran off in hot pursuit of their friend.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
----------------------  
  
Shi-chan: I'm gonna write a songfic now, I think.  
Duo: Ooh, yes. Take me away from this story for awhile.  
Shi-chan: Come on...you know you like it...  
Duo: What's to like!? I'm dead and Heero has split personalities! I don't like this at all!  
  



	17. The Physcial Me

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I can't think of a more clever disclaimer...  
  
---------------------------  
FRIDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: A thousand pardons...I have other stuff I've gotta do tonight...  
Duo: *smirks* Got a date?  
Shi-chan: Right, a date with my Trigun videos. Vash!  
Duo: Mmm. Vash....  
Heero: *thwaps him* I TOLD you to stop that!  
Duo: ITAI!  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 17  
WARNING! SHOUNEN-AI, LANGUAGE  
  
  
Quatre knocked softly on the door. "Heero? Are you okay?"  
  
"Go away," came the reply.  
  
"Heero, please. We're trying to help." Quatre's porcelain face looked pained.  
  
Wufei stepped closer. "Yuy. This is stupid and weak. We are only trying to assist you."  
  
"Go to hell."  
  
"Heero..." Duo pleaded.  
  
"Fucking DEMON!" Heero spat.  
  
"I am kicking this door down." stated Wufei calmly.  
  
Heero laughed aloud. "I get it! You're helping the devil do his dirty work! I don't think so. You won't fool me."  
  
"Hold it." Duo touched Wufei's shoulder. "I'll go in."  
  
The Japanese pilot was still laughing coldly. "So, demon, have you taken Chang now? I wouldn't have thought you so weak, Wufei! You're all working with him...I see it...well, dammit, it's not going to work! You can look like Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, Relena, hell, even Duo himself! I'm not letting you near me, you sick bastard!"  
  
Duo phased and glanced at Quatre. "Ano...if you hear a lot of screaming, break the door down, okay? I'm not feeling suicidal at the moment...don't want to die again, this time my ticket might *really* get punched..."  
  
"Got it." Quatre nodded as Duo slipped through the door.  
  
"Heero..." the American started. "I know that you're angry and hurt, and I really--"  
  
"DUO!" Heero ran to Duo's side excitedly.  
  
"I, uh, what?" Duo regarded the Japanese boy with suspicion, but could find no trace of malice in Heero's smile.   
  
Heero brushed a hand through Duo's transparent bangs. "You're back so soon! I was waiting..."  
  
"Um. Yeah...I hurried...uh, hang on a sec okay?" Duo put his head back through the door. "What the hell?"  
  
Quatre shrugged. "You've got me. I expected him to try to kill you...or something."  
  
"It's possible that seeing you is triggering the split personality." said Trowa calmly. "He began acting like this as soon as he laid eyes on you."  
  
"You might be right. Hang on, I'll test a theory." Duo turned back to face Heero and smiled. "Stay right there, love, okay?"  
  
"Sure, Duo..." The curious Heero watched his lover hurry over to the window, as far across the room as he could get.  
  
Duo held his breath. "Heero, would you please open the door for Quatre?"  
  
Heero turned and unlocked the door to show the three remaining pilots in.  
  
Duo grimanced. //I hope this works...// He concentrated on turning solid, and much to his delight immediately did so. "Yes!"  
  
Heero turned back to face Duo, and an odd expression flickered across his face. "You!"  
  
"Um, hi, Heero!" Duo said cheerfully.  
  
"Dammit!" Heero fumbled for his gun, which was thankfully still on the dresser. Quatre and Trowa jumped forward to restrain him.  
  
Duo edged a little closer. "Koi? Are you all right?"  
  
Heero kicked and tried to break the iron release the boys held him in. "Get away from me! What did you do to me!? How did you get in here!?"  
  
"Just trying to ask you some questions." Duo finally came face to face with the Japanese pilot. "We're just worried about you, Hee-chan."  
  
Heero glared at Duo with more hate than Duo beleived his koibito's eyes could contain. "Go back where you came from. Leave me alone."  
  
"Heero, I'm begging you, please! I really need for you to beleive me, that it's really me! Can't you ask me some questions that only I would know the answers to, or something?"  
  
The other boy closed his eyes. "I have nothing to say. Get out of my life! I don't care what you are!"  
  
"You don't care that I'm the one you said 'I love you,' to so many times?" Pain flashed across Duo's face.  
  
"SHUT UP! I don't care how much you look like him! You can't break me! You *won't*!" Heero began to laugh maniacally. "Oh yes, yes...I see it...you're good, demon! You have his body. You even have his eyes! But I can see right through them...you look at my face, and I see death and pain and anger coming from your eyes! You're excellent! Duo would approve!" The malice in his wide smile gave Duo the shivers.  
  
"Heero! Listen to me!" Quatre yelled. "How can he help having pain in his eyes, when you treat him like this!? You don't see what you're doing!"  
  
"Oh, don't I?" Heero snickered. "Really! I don't see why you're concerning yourself with me. If you've allied yourselves with this bastard, then you should be worrying about your own souls!"  
  
"Heero..."  
  
"Well then!" Heero crowed. "It'll all be over soon anyway! For me at least. I'm following Duo, wherever he went. I'm sure you know," he looked at Duo, "and that's why you've come for me. Are you to be my reaper then? Trying to get me sent to hell, demon? I won't betray Duo! You won't get me!"  
  
"I've heard enough." Duo stepped back. "Let's try this one more time."   
  
He phased and Quatre and Trowa found themselves holding a confused-looking Heero. "Now what?"  
  
Duo came forward, smiling. "Oh, nothing. Are you all right?"  
  
"Fine as long as you're with me, koi." Heero half-closed his eyes in happiness.   
  
"I see." Wufei said from the doorway. "I understand now, Maxwell."  
  
Trowa backed up. "Well...I guess we'll be going..."  
  
"Oh, yes." Quatre let go of Heero's arm and followed Trowa. Heero looked at his arm and then at the Arab, but didn't say anything. Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre hurried out, leaving Duo and Heero alone in the room. The latter went over an sat on the bed, waving for Duo to follow him. Duo did so.  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------------  
  
  
  
"Seeing the ethereal Duo is what appears to be make Heero switch personalities." Trowa said.  
  
Quatre looked thoughtful. "And when he's solid, Heero's angry side comes back out again?"  
  
"That seems to be the pattern," said Wufei. "What should we do?"  
  
"I don't know." Quatre face was tired and worn. "Duo can't stay phased all the time, not being able to touch anything. But seeing Duo solid is driving Heero off the deep end."  
  
"Too late," Wufei said sourly.   
  
Trowa folded his arms. "Duo's going to have to convince Heero one way or another that he's real, before Heero does something stupid."  
  
"We can't babysit Yuy. Not even Maxwell can."  
  
"I know that." Trowa sighed. "But there's nothing we can do."  
  
Quatre had to agree. "We've done all we can...it's up to Duo now."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-----------------------   
Shi-chan: It seems to be going the way I want it to now ^_^  
Duo: Which is...?  
Shi-chan: A secret!  
Duo: ......  
Shi-chan: I probably can't spare any more time tonight, so another chapter or three will be ready for tomorrow. Ja matta ne! 


	18. Coming To Terms

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I don't own the GW boys, if I did I'd have my own personal harem and a billion dollars instead of my pathetic 486 CPU and small fansub collection...  
  
---------------------------  
SUNDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Apologies...I didn't get this up last night...  
Duo: Thank God...  
Shi-chan: Um, yeah. I spent most of the night looking for Ground Zero scans.  
Duo: And fanfics....  
Shi-chan: Oh yes, and the fanfics. *grin* I read so many good darkfics...too bad I can't write them...  
Duo: Oh, what a shame! *grins evilly*  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 18  
WARNING! SHOUNEN-AI, LANGUAGE  
  
  
The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully, although Duo was getting quite annoyed at having to stay phased all the time and having Heero following him everywhere. By bedtime Duo was starving, he hadn't eaten since the pizza early that morning. Once he and Heero were settled into bed--or at least as settled as Duo could get half-solid as he was--Duo was releived to see Heero immediately falling into dreams. The Japanese pilot snored softly, a smile on his lips, mumbling to someone or something in his dream.   
  
Quietly Duo slipped out of bed and turned solid, then headed down to the kitchen for a snack--or something equivilant of the twomeals he had missed that day. //Funny, I'm not usually this hungry after just missing dinner...must be this weird phasing thing...//  
  
He began fixing himself some noodles absent-mindedly, still listning carefully to noises from just above in case Heero woke up, and barely noticed the approach of someone else from the doorway.  
  
"Duo."  
  
"Hey, Trowa."  
  
"How's Heero doing?" The unibanged pilot sat down the the kitchen table.   
  
Duo scooted over with his bowl of noodles and a fork. "He's doing better, I think..."  
  
"Still haven't figured out how to use chopsticks?"  
  
"Um..." Duo grinned and put a forkful into his mouth. "Not really..."  
  
Trowa's blank face softened. "How are *you* doing?"  
  
"Fine, fine!" Duo reassured him. "he's pissing me off to no end, but it's okay! It's not his fault. I think."  
  
"No. Not if his problem is as severe as we think." Trowa sighed and rubbed his temples. "You're going to have to decide what to do. Heero is in your hands."  
  
Duo looked sad. "I know. I've thought a lot about it, Trowa...and I think maybe he's right, you know?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
The braided pilot clasped his hands together. "If you really *think* about this...Heero's right. I'm dead. He knows it, accepted it, maybe hasn't come to terms with it yet, but it's true. I haven't been able to accept it...because I've been living. But all this could be taken away again in the blink of an eye, and you and Quatre and Wufei and I are going to have to come to terms with it--all over again. Heero's kind of done it already. But I don't know why I'm *here,* Trowa, was it all a mistake? Or was I right from the start, I'm only here to determine whether Heero lives or dies? Maybe it was because of the split personality. Maybe once that's cured or fixed or however you say it I go back to oblivian. And I don't want to, but it's probably going to happen. I know it...and I think you do too."  
  
Tears glistened in Trowa's visible emerald-green eye. "I don't want to beleive you. But you may be right."  
  
"That's the hardest part of all, not knowing." Duo said softly. "Not knowing what to do."  
  
"I have another theory that I think you should know..."  
  
Duo looked up. "What's that?"  
  
Trowa hesitated. "Don't you think...that maybe losing you again really *would* kill Heero?"  
  
"Yesss...."  
  
"Suicidal or not, most people deep down still want to live. It's possible that your sudden appearance caused the split, so that once you...left us again only one side of Heero would have to face the pain?"  
  
Duo's face froze. "Oh, no...that time when he came up behind me in the mirror...he was acting so oddly...and then he started getting violent..." Duo closed his indigo eyes and sighed. "That might be when it happened, right there, when he actually acknowledged that I was really real. I touched him and we kissed...maybe it was too much for him..."  
  
Trowa's face was even more stricken than before, and Duo finally realized why. "Trowa...I just had an awful thought..."  
  
The unibanged pilot looked down at the table. "So...do you think that when you go, Heero might go back to normal?"  
  
Duo grimaced. "No...I was thinking that if I were to die again, that soft personality of Heero's--the one that sees me, the one that loves me--will die with me. Leaving..."  
  
"Leaving that semi-suicidal other Heero with us."  
  
"Right." Duo couldn't keep the pain out of his eyes. "At least until he makes good on his promise to kill himself."  
  
  
  
  
----------------------------  
  
  
  
  
Heero stirred and noticed that Duo's soft blue glow beside him was missing.   
  
  
  
----------------------------  
  
  
  
"That's just a theory though, right?" Trowa asked worriedly.  
  
"Yeah. Just a thought. I'm not really suicidal, you know, Trowa...it occured to me once or twice, and more than that over the last few days, but I really don't want to die. I want to be here, with you guys and Heero, and be the legal drinking age and get on with a normal life. I never really had a normal life. None of us did...except maybe Quatre, or Wu-man." He looked a little angry. "But all that got taken away from me, without any warning. And now here I am, barely half a person, I couldn't fend for myself until I got to Quatre. I would have died again, without him being there to take me in. I would have died again on the cliff if I hadn't come to my damned senses. I could die any minute now, when God or whoever's up there realizes that I've come to this realization and accepted that fact that it's over! I would give my life for you, Trowa, or for Heero or Quatre or Wu-man. But I don't think I have a life to give anymore. Even if I wanted suicide now--if I had to do it to bring Heero back to his senses, I would--I don't know what would happen to me. Am I just here until Heero gets himself back together? Or am I just here until I decide deep-down that it's time for me to move on? Do I *need* to kill myself to end this, will someone do it for me, or will I just disappear someday? It scares the shit out of me that I don't know. That I've got no way of knowing. Not being able to go solid this morning really freaked me out...it could have been a sign of what's coming. Maybe tomorrow I won't be able to go back to normal at all. Maybe my wings will appear and I won't be able to concentrate them away. Maybe one of you won't be able to see me anymore. I don't know." He gasped for breath. "I don't know why this is happening! I thought at first that it was my personal hell on earth...that could still be true! I find myself having trouble beleiving in my own existance, what if tomorrow we find out that it was never really real at all, that it's just a dream you or Quatre or Heero are having? Is what I did in life enough to bring this upon me? I was Shinigami, I don't deny it, I killed and killed and killed for what I thought was the good of the colonies and my own survival. How important was my survival compared to all those OZ soldiers? How many more civilians would have died if I hadn't been there? Which was truly the *right* way for us to live, killing for others or getting killed ourselves?"  
  
  
Trowa did not speak. "That's something all of us wonder, I think. You know I cannot answer your questions...some of them are my questions too. But rest assured, everything you did with your life went according to what you beleived was right, did it not? Duo, you're one of the most caring and loyal people I know. You would never have abandoned us if there was anything you could do about it. And we are not going to abandon you now."  
  
"Thanks a lot, Trowa." Duo offered him a genuine smile. "If I die tomorrow, and I mean *really* die, I know that this time I won't be leaving anything left undone."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
---------------------------  
Shi-chan: Starting to clue up, next chapter...I'll start working on it right away....  
Duo: o.O  



	19. Destined To Be Killed By You

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I don't own the GW boys, if I did I'd have my own personal harem and a billion dollars instead of my pathetic 486 CPU and small fansub collection...  
  
---------------------------  
SUNDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Yep yep yep...looks like "Greenwood," will be waiting until I finish this chapter at least...  
Duo: Don't you have to bring those back to the video store?  
Shi-chan: Not till tomorrow. I don't know how I'll fit 'em around school though.  
Duo: Oh, come on...you don't reeeeeeally want to write this fic, you wanna watch the movies!  
Shi-chan: Um... *torn* But I wanna write the fiiiiic....  
Duo: Oivey.... *sweatdrop*  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 19  
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING! I DON'T KNOW WHAT CAME OVER ME, BUT THERE IS A FAIRLY NASTY ABUSIVE SCENE AHEAD!  
AND THEN, THE USUAL WARNINGS...SHOUNEN-AI, LANGUAGE, ABUSIVE STUFF, GUNDAM BOY TORTURE...  
Hell yeah, this fic's got it all....  
  
  
  
  
After Trowa left, Duo sat in the kitchen by himself for a while.   
  
//Oh, God...what am I going to do?//  
  
He heard a creak at the door. "Duo?"  
  
Duo snapped his head up and forced himself to watch Heero's eyes as he slipped into his aggressive personality. "Hello, Heero."  
  
"Demon." Heero snarled, backing away.  
  
"Don't you want to kill me?" Duo taunted. "I'm not going to struggle."  
  
Heero looked slightly torn. "What's your plan this time?"  
  
Duo spread his hands and tried to look innocent. "Nothing. I'm just not interested in fighting with you, Hee-chan."  
  
"Don't call me that!" Heero growled, stepping forward.  
  
"Why not? It's what I called you all the time." He leaned ahead and grinned maliciously. "Does it cause you pain to hear me say that, Hee-chan?"  
  
"You're not Duo. You have no right..." Heero's voice trailed off as anger burned in his eyes. "...bastard..."  
  
Duo shot him a wry smile. "There's nothing at all I can say to make you beleive me, Hee-chan? I can tell you everything about you. Everything about me. About Dr. J and the Gundams and Relena and the Maxwell Church and I can describe to you in great detail the first time I met you, the first time I kissed you, the first time we..." He snapped his mouth shut, watching Heero's enraged face instead.  
  
"That means nothing to me." Heero snapped. "If you were sent to cause me pain, you *would* know all of that. And your presence is causing me great amounts of pain. Leave me alone!"  
  
Duo shrugged. "I'm sorry, Hee-chan, I can't do that. I think I'm gonna be here until you're back to normal, or at least until you decide whether you intend to live or die. And I am going to try my damned hardest to make sure that you live! If I'm here to bring you to Hell, Heero, than why do i care so friggin' much!?"  
  
Heero looked a little stunned. "Why..."  
  
Duo's hopes soared when the Japanese boy's expression eased just a bit. "Hee-chan?"  
  
"Hn." Heero walked over to Duo and stood directly in front of him. Then he drew his hand back in a fist.  
  
//He's going to hit me.//  
  
Duo's mind quickly ran through an assortment of reactions that he could have, but didn't have time to decide on one before Heero's knuckles swung toward his face. Panicked, Duo dropped his concentration and tried to phase out...  
  
...and nothing happened.  
  
Heero's hand connected solidly with Duo's cheek, sending the braided boy out of the chair and onto the floor in a heap. "ITAIIII!"  
  
Heero blinked at the tumble of chestnut hair and black clothing.  
  
Duo sat back up, rubbing his head. "Ne! That hurt, what'dja do that for Heero no baka!?!?"  
  
The Japanese boy stared down at Duo. The blow had made tears come to the violet eyes, and Heero could see the beginnings of a bruise forming on the 'demon's' cheek. Duo touched his hand to it gingerly.  
  
"I'll do it again." Heero said simply. "Are you going to fight back?"  
  
"No." Duo said, standing up defiantly. "I said I wouldn't."  
  
"Your choice." He drew back his fist again--Duo didn't flinch. He still couldn't phase, much to his dismay. Heero really leaned into the punch, and Duo flew back from the force of it. Heero walked over and kicked the chestnut-haired boy in the ribs. Duo sucked in a breath and willed himself not to cry, or groan, or do anything but climb tiredly to his feet. Heero remedied that by sweeping Duo's legs out from under him while sucker-punching him to the side of the head.  
  
Black began to creep in at the egdes of Duo's vision. //Maybe I'm destined to be killed by him after all. Is that it?//  
  
Heero, sweat running down his face, continued to mercilessly beat Duo using his fists and feet. Both were breathing hard and bruises had broken out on Duo's fair skin, mostly on his arms. Heero grunted and slammed the smaller boy into his knee, and Duo let out a small yelp of pain--the first noise he had made since Heero had begun his assault. Heero's eyes glazed over as he threw Duo to the ground, kicking him fiercely, the smile on his face fading every time he heard the solid thump of his foot hitting flesh.  
  
Duo did not move. Did not speak. Heero growled and continued hammering the lithe body.  
  
//Why am I letting you do this?//  
  
//Is letting you kill me any better than committing suicide?//  
  
//Would I mind if you killed me?// He let out a small gasp of pain, a sharp kick had broken at least one of his ribs.   
  
Heero was sweating heavily. "Why don't you move? Why don't you fight back?"  
  
Duo opened his eyes. "Don't you want me dead?"  
  
Heero let out a shrill animal-like howl and resumed his attacks with even more venhemence. Duo shuddered.  
  
//He doesn't know what he's doing.//  
  
//So why am I letting him do it?//  
  
Heero yanked Duo none-too-gently to his feet and punched him again. Blood began to run from a cut above Duo's eyebrow. Heero held him in the air by the front of his shirt, legs dangling, arms hanging limp, violet eyes burning into colbalt blue.  
  
"I don't understand," Heero hissed.  
  
Duo started to glare, but instead just gazed into Heero's wild eyes. They seemed so full of pain and hurt and anguish and anger...and confusion...  
  
The American pilot imagined he could see himself in those depthless orbs, his confusion, his love...love, yes, that was it. Even if Duo died from this, he knew he couldn't hold it against the one he loved. Maybe it was for the best. It probably was.  
  
"Heero...I...understand...really..." he gasped for breath. "I'll...forgive...you..."  
  
Heero's expression hardened. "What?"  
  
"I...I think...you can...kill me..."  
  
A feral expression took over Heero's features and he growled. "Is that so!?!?"  
  
The brown haired boy drew back for one last punch, and Duo vaguely felt it connect with his temple...  
  
...and then he knew no more.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
------------------------  
Shi-chan: I'm gonna be killed for this. *runs to hide in the next chapter.*  
Duo: Itai....  
Heero: I find your writing absolutely terrible. Don't you have any morals?  
Wufei: INJUSTICE!  
Shi-chan: Um, yeah, sorry about the violence minna-san....don't know what came over me....  



	20. Lover's Spat

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I don't own the GW boys, if I did I'd have my own personal harem and a billion dollars instead of my pathetic 486 CPU and small fansub collection...  
  
---------------------------  
SUNDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Sweet God, I can't beleive I wrote that last chapter...  
Duo: Neither can I! How could you do that to me!?  
Shi-chan: Gomen, gomen...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 20  
  
WARNING...SHOUNEN-AI, LANGUAGE, ABUSIVE STUFF, GUNDAM BOY TORTURE...  
  
  
  
  
  
//"Call me if you need anything, okay?"//  
  
//"If you fell over that, I might have to go over after you."//  
  
//"Still haven't figured out how to use chopsticks?"//  
  
//"Serves you right for sitting in the fridge, Maxwell!"//  
  
//"Look, Duo, I trust you."//  
  
//"We are not going to abandon you now."//  
  
//"You're one of my best friends, Duo, don't you forget that."//  
  
Darkness.  
  
//"I wouldn't want you to. I wouldn't want either of us dead."//  
  
Sweet torture  
  
Heero?  
  
The Perfect Soldier doesn't love anyone. Heero Yuy is dead.  
  
I've slept with Death too many times already  
  
//Are you even really Duo Maxwell anymore?//  
  
You can't be. Your eyes are dead.  
  
//Why?//  
  
You are dead. Or dying.  
  
//Again?//  
  
Isn't that what you want?  
  
//No...//  
  
Why? Because you were destined to it?  
  
//No...//  
  
You screwed up.  
  
//No!//  
  
You're dead.  
  
//NOOOOOOOO!//  
  
  
Duo screamed and brought his fist forward with every ounce of strength he had left. It connected solidly with the side of Heero's face, knocking the Japanese boy back into the wall long enough for Duo to fall to the floor and pick himself up again.   
  
Heero climbed slowly to his feet. "I thought you weren't going to fight back."  
  
Duo shot him the Maxwell grin. "I guess even the great Shinigami can be wrong from time to time."  
  
"Oh, really?" Heero came up to Duo and gazed into the deep violet eyes. Duo didn't move.  
  
Heero drew back, and Duo brought his arm up to block the blow while clenching his other hand into a fist. But Heero didn't strike, just kept staring into Duo's eyes.   
  
An eternity passed.  
  
The Wing pilot put his hands on his hips. "So Shinigami screwed up, huh?"  
  
"Yeah...I guess so.." Duo relaxed his limbs just a bit.  
  
"Duo would have fought back, demon. He has more willpower than that."  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Yes." Heero leaned closer and kissed Duo firmly on the lips before turning and walking out the door. "You do."  
  
  
  
  
------------------------  
Shi-chan: Dammit, the story's writing itself again...  
Duo: o.O scary....  
Shi-chan: Sorry for the short chapter, but Greenwood awaits. More tomorrow!  
Duo: Ja ne!  



	21. A Fridge Fell On Me

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I don't own the GW boys, if I did I'd have my own personal harem and a billion dollars instead of my pathetic 486 CPU and small fansub collection...  
  
---------------------------  
MONDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Oh, how I detest "Pride and Predjudice..."  
Duo: You might have liked it more if you'd read it a week ago like you were supposed to...  
Shi-chan: I had better things to do!  
Quatre: What, surfing the Net and watching Ranma?  
Shi-chan: Shut uuuup...  
Duo: And we happily bring you Chapter 21! If I didn't know better I'd think I actually enjoyed that last chapter!  
Shi-chan: It was supposed to have that effect...  
Heero: Hn. Gundam is on in 15 minutes. Can you write that fast?  
Shi-chan: Nani!?!? But, isn't this episode 48? Is this the episode where Quatre gets stabbed?  
Quatre: Oh, that bitch...  
Duo: Baka...I think so....or maybe it's 49...  
Shi-chan: One of those times when I hate Canadian television. Everybody's already seen this but me...  
Quatre: Uh, Shi-san? The fic?  
Shi-chan: o.O Oh yeah, the fic...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 21  
  
WARNING...SHOUNEN-AI...AND SHI'S HORRIBLE SENSE OF 'HUMOR...'  
  
  
  
  
Duo stared at the door through which Heero had left. "What the hell just happened?"  
  
//Masaka...could it be? He...beleives me? Saa...//  
  
Duo let out a whoop of happiness and spun in a circle. "YATTA!"  
  
Suddenly Wufei came barging in, with Quatre and Trowa in hot pursuit. "Maxwell!"  
  
Quatre gasped. "Oh Allah, what happened to you?"  
  
"Huh?" Duo was too caught up in his victory and ran over to give all three boys cheerful hugs. "What do you mean?"  
  
"You're bleeding," Trowa pointed out.  
  
"You've got bruises all over!" exclaimed Quatre.  
  
"And I beleive you've lost your mind." said Wufei.  
  
"Oh, that!" Duo laughed, touching his hand to some of the blood coursing down his face. "Hahaha! Um, Heero and I had a 'lil lover's spat!"  
  
Quatre regarded him seriously. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"  
  
"No way! I told Heero he could, uh, beat me up if he liked, so he did, but then he started yelling and I punched him and then he kissed me and walked off!"  
  
Wufei gaped. "You call *that* a 'lover's spat?'!?"  
  
(Shi-chan intervenes at this point, doing something she vowed never to do, and drags the four boys into her room to watch GW.  
Duo: I've SEEN this episode, baka!  
Quatre: I LIVED this episode!  
Shi-chan: Shut up! Talk when the commercial comes on!  
  
*30 minutes later*  
  
Shi-chan: Damn, Quatre, that looked like it hurt...  
Trowa: Don't you think you're ruining the mood of the scene here?  
Shi-chan: Oh, hell. Um...yeah.  
  
*pause*  
  
Shi-chan: We now bring you back to your regularly scheduled program. Er, fanfic.)  
  
Duo danced around gaily. "He loves me, he loves me, he loves me, he loves me! He nearly beat me to death. Erk."  
  
Quatre took Duo's arm and led him out of the kitchen and into the bathroom. "You're dripping blood everywhere, Duo...for heaven's sake..."  
  
Duo surveyed his swollen face in the mirror. "Uh, maybe I should've fought back earlier. Oh yeah, and I'm having more phasing troubles."  
  
"Couldn't turn solid again?" Trowa asked worriedly.  
  
"No, couldn't phase out. I tried to when Heero first started swinging at me." The braided boy stripped his shirt over his head and gingerly touched his torso. "I think I broke some ribs."  
  
"Aiya..." Quatre gaped at the assortment of wounds on the American's body. "You're gonna be black and blue by tomorrow morning...you may need to go to the hospital about that..."  
  
Duo carefully wiped away the blood that had drippped from his face to his shoulders. "Yeah...I think my arm's a little screwy too..." He put down the cloth and let down his hair using his right hand. The left one, Trowa noticed, was swelling a bit. He went to get some ice.  
  
Duo brushed his hair out and allowed Quatre to re-braid it for him. "Where d'ya think I should sleep tonight?"  
  
"Not near Yuy." Wufei let out a curse and tried to secure an elastic band around the end of Duo's long chestnut braid. "No telling what he might do while you're asleep, if you're solid."  
  
"I don't think you should phase anyway, if you even can." Quatre said worriedly. "What if you don't wake up, and we can't do anything to help? I think you'd better stay in one of the spare rooms. Or you can have my room and I'll sleep upstairs."  
  
"Thanks, Q-man." Duo tried to move his left arm and winced. Trowa appeared with an ice pack.  
  
"We'll go to the doctor early tomorrow," Quatre reassured them. "Then we can try to figure out what's happening with Heero."  
  
  
  
----------------------------  
  
  
  
The next morning Quatre and Wufei took great pleasure in disguising Duo as best they could, in case anyone at the hospital recognized him. Duo straightened the glasses on his nose and glared down at his new outfit. It consisted of one of Trowa's dark purple turtlenecks and a pair of Quatre's khakis, despite the fact that Duo had tons of his own clothes that he could have worn.  
  
"They're all black!" Quatre had complained. "How can you be inconspicuous if you're wearing *all black!?*"  
  
"Quatre, look at my *hair!*" Duo moaned. "Please...let me braid it or ponytail it at least!"  
  
"No way, Maxwell!" Wufei crowed. "That hair of yours is way too identifiable. It's better left down."  
  
"But I look like a girl..." Duo whined.  
  
"Not with that shirt on!" Quatre cried.  
  
Duo looked pained. "Well, that's even worse! I look like a crossdresser!"  
  
"You mean you're not?"  
  
All three boys stopped to stare at Trowa for a moment before Quatre and Wufei burst into laughter.   
  
"INJUSTICE!" Duo sputtered.  
  
"Shut up, Maxwell!"  
  
Quatre wondered if the pants matched or not.  
  
"Can't I wear my baseball cap?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Quatre! No faaaaair!'  
  
"Too bad." Careful to avoid Duo's injured left arm, Quatre and Trowa dragged him out the door. "Let's go!'  
  
All throughout the car ride, Duo kept pushing his glasses up furthur on his face and mumbling, "Damn. Damn it all to hellll...I want my collar, I want my braid, I heal quick, all-better-lets-go-home!"  
  
"Duo, you wear your hair down all the time." Trowa said mildly.   
  
"That's at *home*! In public it's different!"  
  
"What's so different?" asked Quatre.  
  
"It's, uh...well, it gets in my way!" Duo growled and pulled his cross out from inside his shirt. He proceeded to sulk for the remainder of the ride, until Trowa pulled the car up in front of the hospital. Duo didn't like hospitals, not at all.  
  
"I really am feeling better..." the American said sheepishly. "I don't think I need to go in..."  
  
"Come on, Maxwell." Wufei grabbed Duo and pulled him bodily out of the car and up the sidewalk.  
  
"Noooo! Don't do this to me! OW! MY RIBS! Wu-man! Let go! HANASE! I don't waaaaaannnaaaaa...." Wufei grimly half-carried Duo all the way into the hospital, right up to the desk.   
  
Quatre scolded the other pilot. "Duo! For God's sake, stop causing a scene!" The little Arab was forced to go speak to the receptionist while Wufei and Trowa restrained Duo.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" asked the bored-looking redhead behind the desk.  
  
"He doesn't like hospitals. Physically, he has some broken ribs and what I think might be a sprained wrist."  
  
"Oh..." The girl looked a little embarassed. "What happened to him?"  
  
"Um...a fridge fell on him."  
  
The young woman's eyes grew wide. "Is that it for his injuries?"  
  
"Not sure...can you get him in and out as fast as possible? I'd like to be sure he's all right..."  
  
"Of course...you look awfully familiar. Do I know you?"  
  
"You might have heard of me. My name is Quatre Raberba Winner."  
  
The redheaded girl gaped. "*The* Quatre Winner? Of course, sir! I'll send him in right away! Name?"  
  
Suddenly Quatre was faced with something he hadn't considered. /Med records. Duo's legally dead, remember?/ "His name is Heero Yuy."  
  
The receptionist waved an orderly over. "Get Mr. Yuy here in a wheelchair and take him up to room 602."  
  
The orderly, with a nod, assisted Wufei and Trowa with bundling Duo into the wheelchair while Quatre smiled at the girl and nodded in thanks. Then the four pilots disappeared into the elevator.  
  
The receptionist brought out her data on Heero Yuy, which wasn't much, but she buzzed for a doctor to come immediately. Two women appeared a few seconds later at the desk.  
  
"Got an odd one." the redheaded girl stated. "Says a fridge fell on him, and Quatre Winner himself brought him here. He's got almost no med report...he's only been in here once, for quick burn treatment. One of your patients, Dr. Po."  
  
Dr. Sally Po read the name on the screen over the receptionist's shoulder. "Heero? You're telling me that Heero's in here because a *fridge* fell on him?"  
  
  
  
--------------------  
  
Somewhere not too far away, Heero Yuy sneezed in his sleep.  
  
--------------------  
  
  
Duo was glaring at Quatre. "What is it with me and fridges lately?"  
  
"I beleive that first incident was your own fault...Yuy." Wufei sneered.  
  
"Ah, it's nice to be Mr. Yuy..." Duo sighed. He grinned menacingly up at the orderly. "I'm so happy to finally be a married man..."  
  
The blonde-haired young man twitched an eyebrow and looked stoically ahead. He wheeled Duo into room 602 and left without a word.  
  
"Duo..." Quatre began to scold.  
  
"Whaaaaat? Can't a guy have some fun now and again?" Duo asked innocently.  
  
Wufei groaned. "Maxwell, just shut up for two seconds..."  
  
The door opened. "Well, if it isn't my favorite bunch of Gundam pilots." Sally Po rolled her eyes at the little group. "What's this I hear about a fridge falling on you, Heero?"  
  
When she looked up, however, Heero wasn't included among the four. "Oh? Where is he?"  
  
"Home, taking a nap." Trowa said innocently.  
  
If the disguise was going to work, now was the time. Duo looked at her and tried to bring his voice pitch up. "Hello, doctor. I'm your patient, not Heero."  
  
Sally came closer to get a better look at the person in the chair. He--it was definitely a he--had twin violet eyes hidden behind thick glasses, long, loose chestnut hair, and was wearing a simple purple turtleneck and khakis. He was also wearing a gold cross around his neck and a familiar grin that Sally recognized right away.  
  
"Oh, sweet Kami...Duo Maxwell, is that *you*!?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------  
Shi-chan: Now that I've read the book, I ought to scramble up that project.  
Duo: zzzzz....  
Shi-chan: Come on, the fic's not *that* boring!  
Wufei: 'Megami, I thought you said you were never going to interrupt your own fics with personal chatter.  
Shi-chan: Even the Goddess of Death makes mistakes, Wu-chan...besides, it was GUNDAM!  
Trowa: @_@ Orororororororo....  
  



	22. What The Heck Is Going On?

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I don't own the GW boys, if I did I'd have my own personal harem and a billion dollars instead of my pathetic 486 CPU and small fansub collection...  
  
---------------------------  
TUESDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Eeyeah. Well, I didn't say what _time_ I'd be posting it...  
Duo: *grumbles* You and your PhotoShop.  
Shi-chan: I was in a good mood! You ought to be thanking me. Maybe I won't write any more "Earth Bound Wing Zero," tonight, then you'd be pleased!  
Duo: Hmmm...  
Shi-chan: *suddenly cries* Waaaaah! No more Gundam!  
Heero: Nani?  
Shi-chan: Tonight was epsiode 49! It's overrrrr!  
Duo: ....  
Shi-chan: And to think I had the fansubs all along and still managed to keep enough self-control to wait for the dub! And now the dub's over!  
Quatre: Ten bucks says they go back to episode 1 tomorrow, and she stays up to watch...  
Duo: You're on...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 22  
  
WARNING...SHOUNEN-AI...  
  
  
  
Duo frowned. "Damn, you spoiled my fun."  
  
Sally rushed over to him and looked into the indigo eyes. "You really *are* Duo!? How can this be!?"  
  
"Um...I always said you couldn't kill Death...why doesn't anyone listen to me?" Duo rolled his eyes.  
  
"Masaka! This can't be happening...I was at the funeral...I was here when you...when you...oh God."  
  
Duo gave her the Maxwell grin. "Speechless, eh? I guess it's quite a shock..."  
  
"But, Duo! What's happened to you?" She gingerly touched the swollen side of his face.  
  
Duo grimaced. "Heero and I had an argument. A total accident, Sally, you know I can take care of myself...you don't need to get him arrested or anything..."  
  
Sally stared at a bruise on his knuckle and hand. "For God's sake, Duo! Were you *asleep* or something when he did this? Take that off!"  
  
Duo obligingly stripped off his turtleneck, eliciting another gasp from the doctor. His shoulders and arms were black and blue.  
  
"No, I didn't even fight back. It was kind of a test." Duo winced at Sally's touch on his broken ribs. "Itaiii!"  
  
The addled-looking Sally began to treat the cuts all over Duo, demanding a complete explaination of everything that had happened since the funeral up until the fight. Duo left almost nothing out.  
  
"All right, I think I've got most of it." Sally finished fixing up the young pilot and took a seat. "So what exactly happened to you and Heero last night?"  
  
"Well..." Duo continued, "after I talked to Trowa I was just killing time downstairs when Heero came in in his creepy omae-o-korosu-personality-mode. He told me he was going to kill me and I said go ahead, and then he punched me, and I tried to phase but for some reason I couldn't. Weird stuff's been hapeneing since yesterday, I don't know what's up."  
  
Quatre suddenly gasped.  
  
Duo looked at the Arab seriously. "Yeah...I noticed too. We need to talk. But anyway, Sally...I just stood there and Heero beat the crap out of me, and I was having a kind of blackout-thing and realized that this wasn't right, and Heero wouldn't want me dead, so I socked him, and he told me that 'Duo would have fought back. He's got real willpower.' And I'm like, 'You think so?' And he says, 'Yes, you do.' And then he kisses me and walks out! That guy. I'll never understand him."  
  
Sally looked confused. "I don't think anyone ever will. And, Trowa's diagnosis was correct, it sounds very much like Heero has divided into split personalities. It's possible that his encounter with you last night might have brought him back to normal, but I'd still like you to bring him in."  
  
"Yuy won't like that." Wufei stated.  
  
"I know." Sally slid over to the computer terminal and brought up Heero's file. "We've barely got any med records on Heero...he stays out of hospitals, apparantly..."  
  
Trowa leaned over Sally's shoulder and gaped at the file she was looking at now. "Impressive, Duo...you've got a medical record that must have cost as much as Deathscythe did..."  
  
Duo stood up and made his way over, taking care not to jostle his ribs. "Oh. Yeah."  
  
"Burns, burns, abrasions, deep cuts, oxygen deprivation, stitches. burns, stiches, hypothermia, cuts, dehydration, dehydration, head injuries, frostbite, starvation, concussion, broken leg, poisoning, burns, broken arm, frostbite, stitches, oxygen deprivation, burns, concussion, poisoning, tumor, cancerous cells...and this is all SINCE the war ended!?"  
  
Duo shook his head. "Not all of it! One of those burn treatments was Heero. He registered in my name."  
  
"I'm surprised you have any skin left." Sally glanced back at Duo, still showing off his bruised but still perfectly-sculpted chest. Sally turned back to the moniter. "Oh..."  
  
Under the list of medications and injuries was a red flashing light and the word 'deceased.' Duo shivered.  
  
"Sorry." Sally brought up a financial file instead. "You probably shouldn't have seen that."  
  
"I'm okay with it," Duo said with a sigh. "So...what about Heero?"  
  
The young doctor bit her lip. "I'd like you to bring him in, but I'd like it if he came willingly. I don't want this hospital turned into rubble; but I also don't want a suicidal Heero running around here, so try your best to talk him into it. Maybe you can do that, Duo."  
  
"I guess so." Duo pulled the turtleneck back over his head and replaced the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "That it, Doc?"  
  
"That's all." Sally smiled. "Come back in a few days and I'll check on those ribs, okay? And be careful..."  
  
"Trust me!" said Duo with a little too much glee in his voice.  
  
"Why does that *not* make me feel better?" the exasperated doctor complained.  
  
Duo shrugged. "Thanks a lot anyway!"  
  
"The pleasure was all mine." Sally smiled at the four pilots. "It was great seeing you guys again, especially seeing you alive and well, Duo. Well, sort of. Best of luck, okay?"  
  
"Thank you, doctor!" cried Quatre.  
  
"Thank you." Trowa said genuinely.  
  
Sally winked at Wufei. "Where've *you* been? Drop by and visit me, you hear?"  
  
Wufei mumbled out a 'yes,' and followed the other boys out, throwing Sally a tiny smile as he closed the door.  
  
  
  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
  
  
  
Quatre and Duo went to the reception desk to pay the hospital bills while Trowa and Wufei went out to the car.  
  
Duo grinned hopefully at Quatre. "When did you notice?"  
  
"When you were talking to Sally just then. Duo...I don't understand what's happening here..."  
  
Duo sighed. "I know the feeling."  
  
"I don't know if this is good or bad," Quatre said worriedly.  
  
"Yeah...maybe later it'll reverse and I won't be able to go solid again, I don't know. But this is getting weirder and weirder. Once I get out by myself I'm going to make sure I can still make my wings come out."  
  
"But I still don't understand how--" Quatre nodded at the redhead behind the desk.  
  
"Me either." Duo slapped his palm lightly against the counter. "But I haven't been able to phase since last night, and I thought I'd test out the theory."  
  
"So you noticed it? We were so used to you being there that that little detail completely slipped my mind..."  
  
Duo cast a nervous glance around the room.   
  
"You guessed it right, Quatre...absolutely right. No one in this hospital should have been able to see me unless I possessed them first...so what's going on here?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
---------------  
Shi-chan: SLEEEEEEP  
Duo: *snore*  
Quatre: Um, yeah. More tomorrow. Ja!  



	23. Cappucino Clouds

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I don't own the GW boys, if I did I'd have my own personal GW bishounen harem...heheheh....  
  
---------------------------  
WEDNESDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Before you get this chapter, you get to put up with my ranting. How fun! Read on...  
  
Tonight, night of nights as the halfpoint of the week should be, young Shi-chan settled at her computer to skip through ff.net before Gundam came on, as she did every night, Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. Yet, upon this not-so-ordinary night of Wednesday the 13th, Shi-chan was struck by realization...that in 18 minutes and 4 seconds the ending of the familiar pattern of these last 15 weeks or so would finally sink in--  
  
  
Yes, Canada aired GW episode 49 last night...and thus, on this lonely Wednesday with the rain screeching outside the window, Shi-chan will soon now leave her computer and turn on the TV, to find that her nightly ritual has been disrupted...Gundam is over, and there will be no new episodes for her to enjoy. Suddenly there is a void at 12:00 a.m. where, Allah forbid, she may end up watching episode 1 tonight. (And she hates episode 1. Episode 3 is the one she wants.)  
  
So...cruel...  
  
  
o-wa-ri   
  
  
  
  
Duo: *cries* That was...so...emotional!  
Quatre: *sobbing* On with the fic...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 23  
  
WARNING...SHOUNEN-AI...AND LOTS OF FLUFFFFFF.....  
*Shi takes a moment to compose herself*  
  
  
  
Back at the house, Duo took Trowa's advice and went for a walk until they had gotten a chance to speak with Heero about the incident the night before. Duo happily agreed, it would give him some alone time to think things over.  
  
Deciding against going to the cliff, Duo went to the playground instead and sat down on a swing. The early-morning quiet was eerie...it was too early for Duo's taste, considering how much sleep he'd been getting. He was also quite hungry, and ended up heading to a little cafe to get a bite to eat.  
  
Duo hadn't been in the place before, but he suspected Quatre would have liked it. It was a small building painted on the inside with browns and golds and blues, with several little booths and a bar-type tabletop facing the window and the street. The American style of the food and the atmosphere was enough to put Duo in a great mood, and he ordered a cappucino and sat down on one of the stools. His cold hands quickly, automtically, began plaiting his chestnut hair into its usual long braid.  
  
There were people out there now--the quiet street had quickly turned into a bust day downtown, much to Duo's delight. He wasn't in the mood for peace and quiet anymore, he wanted to listen to the beat of the music and enjoy his coffee, and then maybe walk down the street and watch all the people passing by just enjoying life. It was a beautiful day to think like that, it was a little cold but Trowa's turtleneck sweater was pleasantly warm and the young American ended up rolling up the sleeves to his elbows.  
  
Despite the cheerful mood that had suddenly enveloped him, Duo still felt compelled to think about everything that was happening. Things didn't seem to add up right--what was going on with his phasing? First he couldn't return to normal, and now he couldn't phase. He hadn't tried since they'd left to go to the hospital, and Duo reminded himself to check on that later.   
  
Then there was the hospital in itself. They had already been in the car by the time Duo realized that no one would be able to see him, even if he wasn't phased. But Wufei had dragged him in kicking and screaming, and the receptionist had heard his panicked cries. Everything from then was just a blur...him making fun of the orderly, the meeting with Sally, the discussion with Quatre...Duo was suddenly glad he had gotten a little time to himself to think. About all that...and Heero.  
  
Heero was still an unknown in Duo's mind. The boy had loved him and then hated him and then loved him and then beat him up...and then kissed him. Had Heero's mind completely shut down? Duo wondered if Heero had maybe been close to believing in him when they encountered three nights ago. Heero had kissed him back, hadn't he, touched him and worried over him before he had snapped? That time with Quatre by the fire--just after Heero's suicide attempt--and when Duo had first realized that Heero was completely oblivious to him...even though Heero had been ignoring Duo's presence, Duo had to wonder if his subconscious just wasn't *letting* Heero see Duo.   
  
And then Duo wondered if he wasn't just trying to shift the blame so this didn't come off as being *Heero's* fault...Duo didn't really want to beleive that Heero Yuy held anything more than happiness for him. It was easy to forget the beating last night,--well, except when he attempted to move--since Duo and Heero had combat-trained together before, and the young Japanese pilot was a lot stronger that he looked. Heero usually won their sparring matches, but he knew when to stop--he couldn't hurt Duo any more than was necessary for training, lest his 'Duo-chan' become royally pissed off at him.  
  
//That'll heal,// thought Duo idly. //I'm more worried about *emotional* scars...// Then again, Duo Maxwell had always considered himself a strong guy. After what he'd gone through in life, he had to. Heero wasn't as fragile as he looked, of course, but the poor pilot had been through hell and back many a time, and the wounds from this one were still all too fresh. Duo hoped Quatre and the others had gotten something out of him. Or maybe Heero was still plotting suicide?   
  
//Over my dead body,// Duo thought angrily, and laughed aloud at the irony. //Aiya...//  
  
The lithe American pilot finished his cappucino and rolled down his sleeves, still grinning. //We'll work this out. Somehow!//  
  
Singing merrily to himself, the braided boy made his was down the street, smiling at random people and stopping to 'ooh' and 'aah' at the window displays of the stores. "Always dreaming never mind everything else...maybe you can go on well, so go on well!" The rich baritone voice made heads turn, to Duo's delight. He walked as slowly as he could in the chill, staying for a moment to play with a tiny puppy held by a young girl, to scrawl 'Shinigami was here,' in condensation on the windows of parked cars, to admire the happy couples walking arm-in-arm in their own little world. Heero and Duo had a world like that, Duo knew, but in it *he* did most of the talking and spent his time staring into Heero's colbalt eyes. Those eyes were capable of holding so much expression and emotion when Heero wanted, and Duo was glad to know that those sparkling blue mirrors were meant only for him. He sighed and imagined Heero's strong, warm arms around him, and somehow just the thought of Heero now was enough to bring his spirits to an all-time high. Despite his little soldier's absence right now.  
  
"...the chance is right before you, it's all right it's surely OK!"  
  
//These are the things I should be enjoying, right?// Duo asked himself. //If I'm here, why make myself miserable? I'm happy enough now that no matter what happens, I think I'd smile through it all.//  
  
He frowned and thought of several things that he definitely *wouldn't* smile to see, but those thoughts were quickly pushed out of his mind by happy daydreams, and Duo decided it was worth his while to try and drag Heero down here someday to walk for a while, maybe at night when snow had begun to fall and the streets were brightly lit and colorful.   
  
He was singing quietly now under his breath. "It's all right, it's perfectly OK!"   
  
Duo Maxwell grinned again and flung his braid over his shoulder--high on life and ready to face the world.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
---------------------  
  
Shi-chan: o.O Ooooh...fluffy...  
Duo: Kinda cute. ^_^  
Shi-chan: More evil stuff coming tomorrow....until then!  
Duo: Daijobu, kitto OK!  
  
  



	24. Cliché

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and I don't own the GW boys, if I did I'd have my own personal GW bishounen harem...heheheh....  
  
---------------------------  
THURSDAY:  
  
Shi-chan: Nothing to do at all tonight, yay!  
Duo: Maxin' and relaxin'....  
Shi-chan: And writing fics. ^_^  
Duo: -_- Why did I figure you were gonna say that?  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 24  
  
WARNING...SHOUNEN-AI...CUSSING...  
Author's note: I forgot to mention that two chapters back, there was something confusing there...in Japan it is sometimes beleived that if you sneeze it means someone is talking about you. This is why Heero did this. ^_^ Okay?   
  
  
  
  
  
Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei were trying their best to get answers out of Heero.  
  
All the Japanese pilot had been able to offer to them was 'This is none of your buisness,' and 'Hn.'  
  
"Heero, I know the situation with Duo is upsetting," Quatre said, "but we need to make sure you're all right! Please, just talk to us!"  
  
"Leave it alone," growled Heero. "Nothing's happening with Duo. Why would anything be, ha! You're speaking about the demon. Nothing's happening. I tried to kill him. I failed. Why should it matter to you?"  
  
Trowa shook his head stiffly. "It matters if you're going to put your lives in danger--your own, or Duo's. We can't let you do that."  
  
"I'm still deciding on that...not like you would be able to stop me."  
  
Wufei crossed his arms. "Your acting like this is doing horrible things to Maxwell, you know."  
  
Heero let out a chuckle. "It's not like I can control it, Chang. This is difficult for me too. I don't know whether I can really beleive that this is my Duo, and not some cruel trick being played on me by Fate. It's hard, so very hard..."  
  
"It's been Duo all along, Heero! We swear!" Quatre looked pained.   
  
"If it's Duo," Heero asked testily, "how can you explain those eyes? They're the only reason I've let myself hope that I might have been wrong, seeing the determination and love and worry in his eyes last night. My Duo is a fighter. I don't know if I came to my senses last night, or took leave of them. But when he really let me have it, and I stood back up, I really could see Duo in there. Pride. Persistance. And I think maybe he was laughing that he took me by surprise."  
  
"This whole situation has been terrible for him." Trowa said quietly. "You turned him away, you thought he was a demon. We need to know what you think now."  
  
"It's hard to pass judgement on him now, " said Heero. "I...I think I might realize that it really *is* Duo, and then what will I do? At least if he's a demon I can escape. But what if it really is him? And...I think it really *is* him. But I can't think that. I don't dare. Maybe they'll take him away again..."  
  
Quatre enfolded the stiff Japanese boy in a hug. "Heero, you have to do what you think is right. Duo will forgive you for the things you've done...and if Duo has to go again, at least you'll know that you can let him this time, and have a proper good-bye. You're only causing everyone pain by pushing him away like this."  
  
"Maybe you're right." Heero sighed. "When he comes back...I'll talk to him."  
  
  
------------------------  
  
  
Duo peeked through the trees to make sure no one was watching, then concentrated hard.  
  
Good, he was transparent again. Maybe his little phasing problem had cleared up.  
  
Just to make sure, he turned solid again and cringed as the leather wings pushed out of his back and hung high above him, eclipsing what little sunlight was coming through the forest canopy.   
  
//Phasing still working....wings still working...good so far...// The American sighed in releif and tried to pull the huge wings back in, but with little success.  
  
"Oh, shit."  
  
  
------------------------  
  
  
Against his better judgement, Duo phased again and shot up into the sky on the feather-light wings. When he was as high as he could get he started to fly as quickly as possible back home, praying that they wouldn't disappear on him.  
  
//What's happening to me? This is not good at all...//  
  
Moving more quickly, he spotted the house just below and began to drop toward the ground. When he was about five feet up he concentrated and turned solid again, and to his half-surprise-half-dismay the wings simply disappeared and he ended up on his backside on the grass.  
  
"Well...that save me the trouble of having to explain the things to Heero and Wufei..." Duo sighed and vowed not to use any more of his abilities until he was able to control them again. He turned the doorknob and walked in, his good mood only slightly dampened by the events of the past five minutes. "Oi, minna-san!"  
  
Wufei came downstairs to greet him. "We've been talking to Yuy...he wants to talk to you now..."  
  
The American boy kicked off his black boots and turned up the heat in the house. "Thanks, Wu-man." He then bounded up the stairs to the room he had shared with Heero.  
  
"Hee-chan?" Duo poked his head in the door.  
  
Quatre and Trowa smiled at him and then made their exit, leaving Heero and Duo alone together.  
  
"Duo." Heero's pale face was unreadable.   
  
"Yatta, Hee-chan! You mean you don't think I'm the demon any more?" Duo threw himself at Heero and glomped him.   
  
Heero patted the other boy's back and looked into the shining violet eyes. //That's the Duo I know.// He gave Duo a soft smile.  
  
Duo almost burst into tears. "OhmygodImissedyousomuch! Oh, Heero!"  
  
/How could I ever have believed he was anything else?/ Heero thought. /Those eyes.../  
  
Duo was quietly crying in relief now. //Please don't push me away again...//  
  
Heero tipped the American's chin up and kissed those soft lips he had been longing for. Duo looked a little surprised but returned the kiss, reveling in its warmth. Heero was here, Heero beleived him, everything would be all right.  
  
"I'm so sorry I hurt you," Heero said quiety. "I just couldn't let myself beleive that I had such a weakness. I've caused both of us so much pain."  
  
"No...I'm perfect right now..." Duo sighed, loving the feel of Heero's strong arms around him. "As long as you're here I can get through anything!"  
  
"I know you can, little one." Heero chuckled. "But with you I seem to stop functioning altogether."  
  
"I've always been right here." Duo laid his hand against Heero's chest, over his heart. "Cliche, huh?"  
  
"Yes. But it's easier to beleive that sometimes." Tears were falling freely from both their eyes now.   
  
Duo kissed Heero again, drinking deeper and deeper. "Don't ever stop beleiving that, okay?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-----------------------  
Shi-chan: Abrupt ending. I have things planned for the next chapter...  
Heero: Do I want to know?  
Shi-chan: Probably not.  
Heero: Damn.  
Duo: *grins*  



	25. Seduction

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people. I OWN SHINOBU'S SOUL! Uh, how'd that get there? -_-;;  
  
---------------------------  
THURSDAY:   
  
Shi-chan: As tempting as going to bed early is, I want another chapter of this done NOW while I'm in this dark mood...  
Duo: Nooo...not more darkness!  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 25  
SHOUNEN-AI, ANGST, CUSSING, CITRUS....AND....YAOI!  
  
  
  
  
Quatre and Trowa stood outside the door. "Do you suppose they're all right in there?" asked the little Arab.  
  
"Well...they haven't been screaming at each other...maybe they've worked things out." Trowa led Quatre back downstairs to where Wufei was waiting. "Let's give them some time alone."  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
Duo and Heero had been able to stop kissing each other long enough to try to talk things out, despite how difficult a time Heero was having. They ended up being content just lying in each others arms in silence, Heero stroking Duo's hair lovingly while the American pilot snuggled against him.   
  
"Duo..." Heero asked quietly. "Do you think you could stay here with me forever?"  
  
"I can't promise anything, my love." Duo replied. "I'm afraid that every minute here might be my last. My phasing problems are really worrying me."  
  
"But how will you know?"  
  
"I don't." Duo sighed. "I have no warning about these things. One minute I can go solid, the next I can't. Then it goes back to normal, but soon I discover some other problem. It's really disconcerting...I'm kind of afraid of what might be happening to me..."  
  
Heero held Duo close, rocking back and forth. "Please...don't go...I couldn't take it if you went again!"  
  
"I can't control it, Heero!" Duo said, his hands trembling. "I don't want to leave you. I'm scared shitless. I'd love to promise you that I'd be here...but what's important right now is that I *am* here, and we've gotta work this out."  
  
"Work it out..." Heero cast a glance downward. "Duo, I...I'm sorry for thinking you weren't yourself. I'm sorry for not believing."  
  
"Apology accepted, as usual, Hee-chan." Duo's open mouth suddenly found Heero's, and they were locked together again.  
  
(Author's note: Yeah, yeah, you asked for it, you're getting it. I am not capable of writing lemons, I've barely read enough of them to even understand the terminology, but a lot of people e-mailed me asking for lemon so I got myself some help. Everything from this point on until noted was written by Tifa, you can contact her with flames/comments/etc. at tifa@japoness.com. See you at the end of the chapter!  
  
Oh yes, and that's why the rating on this chapter is so high...if you don't care for citrus, just scroll down until you see the line of asterisks and imagine me holding up a big sign that says "Insert Lemon Here," on it. Although...it's not too bad as lemons go, which is why this is R-rated and not NC-17...I didn't want to go overboard in this story in particular. I might want to use this one in a contest or something, and I know at least one of my IRL friends reads this. [Hiya, Belindi-san! If you're gonna read this next part, don't do it anywhere near the Callaberos okay?] So the citrus is still being toned down, and it has been edited/spellchecked/approved by me. If anyone thinks it *should* be rated NC-17, (I'm having a 'lil trouble telling the difference between NC-17 and R) contact me at duoxheero@dragonball-gt.zzn.com. Okies?  
  
Now that that's over with, take it, Tifa!)  
  
Heero smiled into the kiss and slid his hands down to Duo's waist. "I missed you so much."  
  
Duo laughed when he finally noticed where exactly Heero's probling fingers were going. "You just missed my body, I think."  
  
"No, no!" Heero grinned coyly at his lover. "I missed everything else too. But my *body* misses yours."  
  
The American let Heero push him back onto the bed, working his pants down. "Oi, Hee-chan...a little headstrong today aren't you?"  
  
Heero tossed his own pants onto the floor. Duo looked a little nervous at the predatory gleam in his partner's eye. "Eager, huh?"  
  
"Hn." Heero sat atop his lover, wandering hands teasing Duo gently. "I've been wanting this...do you know how long it's been since we...?"  
  
"Too long." Duo grinned and then moaned in pleasure as Heero began trailing kisses along his neck and across his chest. "Koi..."  
  
"Not up for it tonight?" asked Heero disappointedly.  
  
"No, that's not it..." Duo had a mischeivious twinkle in his eye and he took a good look at Heero's genitals. "I was just wondering what brought this on..." He pulled Heero closer.  
  
Heero accepted the silent invitation and fumbled for the lube on the headboard shelf. "Now how did this get there?"  
  
Duo continued to speak as Heero opened it and coated himself with it. "You know, one minute you hate me, the next you're stripping me down...and, um..."  
  
Heero grinned wickedly and eased him closer to Duo. "Maybe it's those split personalitites you were talking about."  
  
"Hrm...damn them..." Blood was rushing through his ears as pain quickly became pleasure. "Mmmm..."  
  
Heero thrusted gently against the smaller boy. "What, you want them to leave?"  
  
"What?" Duo gasped. "Not at all..." The pleasure was overwhelming, tears and beads of sweat ran down Duo's face.   
  
"Not at all..." he repeated softly, and soon the white-hot waves took them both...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*******************************  
  
  
  
  
^ (Yup, those are the asterisks right there. Shi-chan takes over...sorry for those of you who were enjoying it! She probably could have done a lot more explicit stuff, now that I read it over...too late now...maybe we'll collaborate again in the future okay? *grin* )  
  
  
  
  
Duo awoke early the next morning looking as though he'd been drugged.  
  
//Nice drugs,// he thought as he watched the sleeping form beside him. Heero's face was mesmerizing, so peaceful, smiling just a little as he dreamed.  
  
The night had been a blur to Duo; all he remembered was Heero's lulling voice and waves of physical ecstasy. He was almost too tired to move, despite the amount of sleep they'd both actually gotten.   
  
Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei might or might not have returned, the door was still closed and the house was silent. Duo supposed that the nosebleed Wufei would have gotten seeing the unclothed boys draped over one another in sleep would have been priceless. But a pain for Quatre to have to get off the hardwood floor. The corner of the room was still stained red from the other night's bloody fight, though the shattered glass from the mirror was long gone.   
  
Duo turned his attention back to Heero, snoring lightly beside him. The Japanese pilot's mouth was open just a little, and Duo planted a kiss on it before dragging himself out of bed. He picked up his discarded clothes from the floor and threw them in the hamper, then headed out to the bathroom for a shower.  
  
The hot water felt great against his aching body, flushing sweat and seed and tears down the drain. His hair has spilled out of his braid at some point--he expected Heero had taken out the elastic--and the chestnut waves were tangled from the wild night.   
  
It hadn't actually been as wild as he had expected, Duo realized. More than just sexual desire and lust and Duo in black leather as they sometimes dealt with, looking back Duo was glad that it had been more of a night of gentle love and passion. The threat of death and separation still hung over them like angry stormclouds.   
  
Duo stepped out of the shower and secured a towel around his waist before running a brush tentatively through his hair. He felt thoroughly refreshed and quite cheerful, less than surprisingly. The young pilot bounded back into their room to find Heero making the bed.  
  
"Oi, Hee-chan!" Duo grinned, tossing the towel to the floor while he rifled through the closet. Heero, clad in boxers now, came up behind his lover and encircled Duo's waist with his arms. Duo selected a pair of black pants and a white tank top from the piles of clothes there.  
  
Duo allowed Heero to dress him as he rummaged for something for the other boy to wear. Finding only black spandex and green tanktops, Duo tossed Heero a pair of his own jeans and a red shirt.  
  
Heero didn't seem pleased with the choice, but Duo had the short-sleeved red shirt over his head before he could complain.   
  
"I was gonna get a shower first," Heero mumbled.  
  
"Too bad." Duo grinned and kissed the tip of Heero's nose. "We're going out."  
  
"Out?" Heero asked dazedly.  
  
"Yeah! I want to show you a place I found. Want to do my hair Hee-chan?" Duo held out a brush.  
  
Heero accepted it and began winding the long chestnut waves into a braid while Duo chattered about what a great day it looked like it was going to be. The excited pilot was bubbling over with enthusiasm for the 'place downtown' to the point that Heero was still trying to secure the end of the braid with an elastic as Duo dragged him out the door.   
  
"Duo..." Heero shook his head and decided not to bother protesting.  
  
"It'll be fun, I swear!" Duo scrawled a quick note to Quatre about their whereabouts and tossed it on the table. "Trust me!"  
  
"Why am I worried?" Heero said sarcastically.  
  
With a grin, Duo pushed Heero out the door and closed it behind them.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
---------------------------  
Shi-chan: Would you beleive it just took me 4 hours to write that?  
Duo: zzzzzz...uh-huh....  
Shi-chan: I needed to research...things...to write the second half of that chapter. Not to mention sending the whole thing back and forth with Tifa.  
Duo: *snore* whatever...  
Shi-chan: Could you at least show *some* enthusiasm, Duo?  
Duo: .....  
Shi-chan: Well anyway, I'm not sure if that was lemon or lime, and how I would classify the 'the morning after' scene. I ATTEMPTED to be descriptive. But hey.  
Duo: Mmm...citrus...  
Shi-chan: *sighs* What's wrong with you tonight?  
Duo: Well, that 3x4 site you were surfing through gave me many many ideas to use on Heero...I'm just thinking, that's all...  
Shi-chan: O.O Too much information...  
Quatre: *coughs*  
Trowa: *coughs*  
Shi-chan: Anyway, more tomorrow, along with a Christmas fic that's been floating in my head...ja ne!  
  



	26. Time's Up

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people. I OWN SHINOBU'S SOUL! Uh, how'd that get there? -_-;;  
  
---------------------------  
FRIDAY:   
  
Shi-chan: Well, yesterday's chapter seemed to come off pretty well! I'm trying my best to please everybody here...  
Duo: .....  
Shi-chan: Anyway, though I got great reviews for both the lemon and non-lemon parts, I'm going to handle the rest of this on my own. Besides, I don't need any citrus for what I'm doing next, the fic is bringing itself to a close. But I think I've pretty much guaranteed that this fic is a combination of just about every GW genre out there...onward!   
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 26  
SHOUNEN-AI...  
  
  
  
Duo bounded into the little cafe with a tired Heero in tow. "C'mon Hee-chan!"  
  
"Is this the place?" Heero asked, looking around curiously.  
  
"Hai!" Duo led Heero to the counter and bought drinks for them both, then they sat down on the stools facing the street.   
  
"It's nice," Heero observed, sipping black coffee and nodding with approval.  
  
Duo was nursing the cream from a huge mug of cappucino. "Isn't it great? I wanted to bring you here as soon as I saw it!"  
  
"Yeah, it is." Heero listened carefully to the upbeat music playing on the stereo. "it seems like the kind of place you would like, Duo-chan."  
  
"Ooh! I love it when you call me that!" Duo threw his arms around his lover, and Heero smiled faintly. "Nee, Hee-chan!?"  
  
"Hn." Heero stirred his coffee thoughtfully.   
  
Duo winked at the Japanese boy. "Still tired?"  
  
"Hn." Heero allowed Duo to sit in his lap while he finished the drink. Duo had whipped cream all over his face; Heero kissed it away. "Sweet."  
  
"You should have gotten something more interesting." Duo sniffed disinterestedly at his partner's choice of beverage.  
  
"Makes no difference to me." Heero gazed into Duo's indigo eyes. "Being with you does."  
  
"Awww, cute!" Duo cried, glomping Heero from his position on his lap.  
  
"Really, though, Duo...I'm so glad I found you again..." Heero leaned his head against Duo's chest.  
  
"Me too, Heero," Duo said quietly, stroking Heero's brown hair. "Me too."  
  
  
  
  
---------------------------  
  
  
  
"Dear Quat-chan. (And Trowa and Wu-man!) Went out with Hee-chan, back soon. We're fine, don't worry. Hope we didn't keep you up last night. Muahahahaha. Yours truly, Shinigami. DM." Quatre refolded the note and threw it on the table. "Well then..."  
  
"That went well." Trowa commented.  
  
"They seem to have made up!" said Quatre brightly.  
  
Wufei snorted.  
  
"Beats having Heero wanting to kill Duo, don't you think?" Trowa crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"It's much better," agreed Quatre. "Do you think we still need to send Heero to see Sally?"  
  
"He's probably fine now," Wufei argued. "He's got Maxwell."  
  
"I'm still worried," Quatre said nervously. "Duo's not in the best of condition."  
  
"They can take care of themselves...but still, I've got a bad feeling..." Trowa shook his head resigningly.  
  
"Yeah..." Even Wufei looked somber.  
  
Quatre glanced at the clock and then down at the folded note. /Why I am I so worried?/  
  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
///Time's up.///  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
Duo hadn't even noticed anything was wrong until Heero realized Duo's reflection wasn't showing up in the windows anymore. The two of them were walking down a fairly busy downtown street at the time.  
  
"Duo, I think something's wrong."   
  
"Hm?" Duo gave him a quizzical look. "What's up?"  
  
Heero pointed wordlessly at the window, where his mirror image stood alone.  
  
"That's odd," Duo said doubtfully. "Mirrors were working fine before--eep!"  
  
The Japanese boy took one of Duo's hands in his own--it was giving off a soft blue glow that was fairly quickly becoming noticible.  
  
"Shit!" Duo grabbed Heero by the wrist and took off down the street at top speed. They ran away from the busiest areas and were nearly to the park when Duo lost his grip on Heero and tumbled forward, rolling and landing in a warrior's crouch.  
  
Heero stood worriedly beside him, offering him a hand. Duo reached gratefully for it, but passed right through. It was all Duo could do to work up enough concentration to make his hand solid for Heero to grab.  
  
They ran.  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
  
"Something's wrong. Something's happened to Duo."  
  
"What? How do you know?"  
  
"I don't know...but we've got find them. And fast."  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
  
At the park, Duo was getting extremely worried. //This is worse than it was before.//  
  
Even Heero was out of breath. "Duo! Are you okay?"  
  
"I--I don't know." Duo cast a confused glance down at his body. He wasn't transparent--yet--but he was glowing softly and was beginning to be able to see through his foot.  
  
The Japanese boy stumbled to his koi's side. "What's happening to you?"  
  
Duo clung tightly to Heero. "I--I...can't...concentrate..."  
  
Heero wasn't sure what to say. "Duo...you're not leaving me, are you?"  
  
"Not if I can help it!" Duo cried. "I'm not going anywhere!"  
  
Heero held the panicked boy in his slender arms, offering comfort regardless of the pain and terror he himself was experiencing. Duo accepted the gesture and wept silently into Heero's shirt.  
  
To both their alarm, Duo's hands and arms had begun to flash a brilliant white-and-blue. "Shit! What's happening!?"  
  
Heero sank to the ground, clutching Duo as tightly as he could. "Oh God, Duo...no..." A pair of leathery wings erupted from Duo's back, tearing his shirt and causing Heero to gasp in surprise. "What the hell?!"  
  
"Masaka..." Duo's face was tear-streaked as he looked down at himself. He was barely holding on enough to still be solid, but most of his body was a transparent blue-white anyway. Duo's wings and slender legs were already passing through Heero's arms as if they were air. "Heero...they're taking me..."  
  
"NO!" Heero screamed. "There's got to be something I can do!"  
  
Duo looked up drowsily. "Heero...I'm..."  
  
"Don't fall asleep, Duo! Don't leave me!" Heero looked into the deep violet eyes.   
  
The dazed American stared back. "Heero...if this is good-bye for good, I'm glad your face is the last thing I see..."  
  
"Don't talk like that, Duo!" Heero's pleading colbalt eyes seemed to read everything in Duo's face. "You're strong! You know that!"  
  
"Aa, Hee-chan." Duo agreed. "I think so. And so are you...right? I think maybe we both need to be strong for each other and ourselves now..."  
  
"Duo!" Heero's salty tears fell onto Duo's cheeks. "I need you! Please!"  
  
"I can't control this, Hee-chan." Duo had gone completely slack in Heero's arms. "I'm so sorry. Please...don't do...anything you might regret...like the cliche said, I'm right here..." He put a shaking hand against Heero's chest.   
  
Heero couldn't do anything but gaze into his lover's indigo eyes as tears spilled down his face.  
  
Duo's hand dropped back down. "I'm awfully cold..."  
  
"No..." Heero held the chestnut-haired beauty closer. "No..."  
  
Duo leaned his head against Heero's chest and closed his eyes. "Mmmm...that's better...love you, Hee-chan..."  
  
"Don't! Duo? Duo!" The limp form in Heero's arms faded away to almost nothing, an armful of sparkles and the silent whisper of the wind. 'Love you...'  
  
Heero let out an anguished scream and pounded his fists on the cold ground. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-------------------------  
Shi-chan: God....cliffhanger...  
Duo: No kidding!  
Shi-chan: I'll try my bext to get up another chapter tonight, but I'm not sure if I can. I'll do my best. ^_^  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	27. Demon Dreamer

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people. I OWN SHINOBU'S SOUL! Uh, how'd that get there? -_-;;  
  
---------------------------  
FRIDAY:   
  
Shi-chan: Oi, oi...I made the mistake of listening to "Five Candles," while writing the end of that last chapter and the beginning of this one. -_-;; ---For more on 'Five Candles,' I wrote a songfic for it 'cause it seemed like a good sappy song. Find it in my ficlist if you like. :-( ---  
Duo: That was sad...  
Shi-chan: Must get...just one more chapter done...  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 27  
SHOUNEN-AI...ANGST....SAP....LANGUAGE...SHORT CHAPTER....AND STUFF.  
  
  
  
  
  
Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei had already checked the cliff and were heading down to the park that Duo liked so much.  
  
"I don't know where else he could be," gasped Quatre as they ran.  
  
Trowa gave his head a shake. "Neither do I. This is our best bet."   
  
They crashed through the bushes and into the playground area only to stop dead in their tracks. Heero was kneeling in the grass, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach, rocking back and forth. He was crying.  
  
"Heero..." Quatre's worst fears surfaced. "Is Duo...?"  
  
The Japanese boy trembled and shook. "Gone."  
  
"Oh, Heero..." Trowa knelt beside Heero and put a hand on his shoulder. Quatre and Wufei also came over to the Wing pilot.  
  
Quatre spotted something gold in the grass by his leg--Duo's cross necklace. The little Arab held it tightly in the palm of his hand, silent tears spilling from his eyes.  
  
Trowa and Wufei assisted Heero in standing up. "Heero?"  
  
The boy stared dazedly at the sky. "He's gone...he's gone, again..."  
  
Quatre climbed to his feet and held Trowa's shoulder for support.  
  
Wufei nodded briskly at the smaller pilot, but his oynx eyes were glistening with unshed tears. The four pilots, holding one another, began to trudge back to the house.  
  
  
  
  
----------------------------  
  
  
  
Heero lay consumed with worse nightmares than he'd ever had before.  
  
"Why did you leave me, Duo? You knew I loved you."  
  
His red-eyed lover grinner wickedly. "Poor Heero, sometimes I really pity you, you know? You keep setting yourself up to get knifed again and again. You should have known better. Now you're going to die, and those who take their own lives just don't end up where they aimed to be."  
  
"Who says I intend to kill myself?" Heero retirted hotly.  
  
"Ah, strong suddenly now, aren't we? You'll think differently once this hits you." The demon Duo laughed and his ruby eyes sparkled blood-red. "Oh, yes. We only see what we want to see here."  
  
"I'll kill you." Heero said quietly, utterly serious.  
  
"Poor, poor, delusional Hee-chan. Oh yes, I remember that! Stung, didn't it? To hear those words come from your dead lover's lips. Especially after all you did to destroy that bond. No, Heero, there's no escaping fate. It stings. It hurts, it hurts like hell. You wouldn't mind the pain though, would you?" The demon cackled. "Not for the one you promised your heart to!"  
  
"Duo would want me to go on....wouldn't he?" Heero found that his thoughts were spinning.  
  
"How sweet! Of course, it's easy for him to say. He's already dead--twice over! Would you rather stay here alone?"  
  
"If I kill myself, I'm not going to end up where Duo is," Heero growled.  
  
"Ah, but where oh where has your little lover flitted off to?" the demon smiled warily. "You certainly don't think that the God of Death went to heaven, did you?"  
  
"Duo beleived in God and that what he was doing was right!" Heero defended.  
  
"Maybe...maybe not! I see no angelic traits about him!" the demon gloated, spinning to show off his black leather wings. "They add a rather hellish cast, don't they?"  
  
Heero put a hand to his temple and felt his pulse beat softly, steadily. "Whereever he's going, I'm going. Even if it means an eternity in hell."  
  
"Determined." Apparantly the demon found this an admirable quality. "So what are you going to do, Hee-chan?"  
  
Heero wasn't quite sure. "Duo wouldn't want me to..."  
  
"Since when does that matter?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's not like you did a lot for *him*, you know. He put up with a lot of shit from you, you know." the demon glowered at Heero.  
  
Heero was dumbstruck. "He did, didn't he..."  
  
"Hee-chan?"  
  
"Shut up." Heero held his head in his hands. "Duo wouldn't...but...I owe...him..."  
  
The demon looked amused. "Hm?"  
  
Heero's face seemed to draw into itself. "I owe him that much at least...Duo...if I need to endure the fires of hell for you, you know I would, koi.  
  
"I'm coming, Duo."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
---------------------------  
Shi-chan: Double cliffhanger...I hate myself....  
Duo: I'd hate myself too if I--  
Shi-chan: Shut up!  
Duo: ....  
Shi-chan: Anyway, I'd love to squash in just one more chapter but it's 4:20 a.m. and my vision is starting to blur. More tomorrow...I'm not sure how much is left to the fic, either 2 or 3 chapters. Most likely 2 and an epilogue. See you then. Ja ne!  
  
  
  
  
  



	28. The Thin Line

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people. I OWN SHINOBU'S SOUL! Uh, how'd that get there? -_-;;  
  
---------------------------  
SATURDAY:   
  
Shi-chan: Awful hard to make myself pull away from those lovely fanfics ad wrok on my own!  
Duo: She's addicted....  
Shi-chan: *Cheerfully* I know I'm confusing the hell out of people with those last two chapters, hee hee! Onward!  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 28  
SHOUNEN-AI...ANGST....ETC...  
The usual...o.O;;  
  
  
  
  
//It's confusing, isn't it?//  
  
Life, death, everything.  
  
//Those who have something to live for continue on, but someday they'll lose that thing that ties them down. It's just that in death, they don't notice it.//  
  
But other people do, right?  
  
//Exactly. Losing a loved one is enough to drive a person off the edge, obviously--most will go far enough to follow them into death.//  
  
And those who don't?  
  
//Those who don't are the stronger of the two.//  
  
Mostly.  
  
//Correct again. They are the stronger, or they are much too weak. Most people beleive the latter.//  
  
So if a person chooses to stay and live through a tragedy, they are stronger than if they took their own life.  
  
//Not so simple. Most people are conflicted enough that this is an unconscious decision, and they hate themselves more for not being true to the one they care about.//  
  
And what of those that they care about?  
  
//It depends on the bond with the person, it depends on their own strength. Between life and death, they are walking a thin, blurry line. Is the stronger the one that stays true to the person they left behind? Or is the stronger the one who passes on and moves on to bigger things?//  
  
I don't know.  
  
//You're not supposed to. That's the trick of it.//  
  
How are we to know then?  
  
//There is no set pattern, it depends on who the person is. But rarely will a bond be so difficult to break that they will not cross that bridge and continue on. Those who choose to stay behind will have a fate much different than had they not...and yet, this has almost never happened. Some suspect that they are weak, and that is why they're left behind.//  
  
What do you beleive?  
  
//I beleive that the ones who stay behind are the stronger. But then, you already knew that, didn't you?//  
  
  
  
---------------------------  
  
  
  
Quatre and Trowa had managed to convince Heero out of bed later in the night, despite Heero's resolution just to lay there until he wasted away. An angry Heero threw Duo's clothes down the laundry chute again before stripping off what he had been wearing the day before--Duo's too-snug blue jeans and a red short-sleeved shirt. With shaking fingers he tossed them in as well and got dressed in his customary spandex shorts and green tank top.  
  
"Heero?" Quatre pushed the door open a crack. "Are you okay in there?"  
  
The Japanese pilot was staring out the window at the glittering stars. "Quatre...do you know how to pray?"  
  
"What?" The confused Arab stepped all the way into the room.  
  
"How to pray."  
  
Quatre fumbled for the right words. "Heero, when you pray, all you need is to sincerely beleive. Your heart will say it for you."  
  
"There's no logic in it." Heero rose and walked out the door, leaving Quatre alone.   
  
"Yet logic seems to have abandoned us long ago..." the blonde boy whispered. "Too many beliefs are clouded by it."  
  
  
  
----------------------------  
  
  
  
Heero nervously stepped into the church and took a curious look around. The large building seemed even bigger than it had from the outside, and his footsteps made soft echoes on the red carpet. The place was completely empty, to Heero's surprise and pleasure; he hadn't really been expecting it to be open at all this late at night.   
  
The ceiling seemed miles high, ornate and adorned by sculpture of angels and saints. Heero had never actually seen a church from the inside before--it was breathtaking. The stained glass windows were difficult to see without any light filtering through them, but Heero's eyes inspected each one carefully. "Beautiful..."  
  
He walked to the altar and knelt before it. "Duo beleived in faith and prayer guiding people..." he said aloud. "Would you offer guidance to me too?"  
  
Heero thought back to what Quatre had told him about prayer. "I've had my miracle already, I guess, haven't I? I don't know what I was expecting."  
  
The church remained quiet and still.   
  
"Yes." Heero agreed quietly. "Only silence. I am no furthur than I was last night listening to the devil's words." he glanced down at Duo's golden cross, its chain encircling several of his fingers. "Well, I guess it's up to me then."  
  
The Japanese boy stood and left, the heavy doors closing behind him with a silent bang.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
----------------------------  
Shi-chan: Yep. Would you beleive that I started writing this chapter while listening to Samaurai Pizza Cats and finished with Koko Wa Greenwood? That's one heck of a jump...  
Duo: Hai, hai....  
Shi-chan: I'm working on the next chapter alreay...it should be done in an hour or so...  



	29. Putting Two And Two Together

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people. I OWN SHINOBU'S SOUL! Uh, how'd that get there? -_-;;  
  
---------------------------  
SATURDAY:   
  
Shi-chan: Clueing up the story....  
Duo: Hai...  
Shi-chan: Everything goes downhill from here!  
  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 29  
SHOUNEN-AI...ANGST....CUSSING...ETC...  
The usual...o.O;;  
  
  
  
So, what am I supposed to do now?  
  
//.....//  
  
What? You can't just abandon me!  
  
//I'm not abandoning you. Technically, that's impossible.//  
  
But...  
  
//Remember what I said. Do you beleive that those who stay behind are stronger?//  
  
I suppose so...  
  
//Then be strong.//  
  
I..don't understand...  
  
//You will. Soon enough.//  
  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
  
Heero walked briskly through the bitter cold night, his final destination in mind. /Why has my resolve been shaken so much?/  
  
He walked to the very edge of the cliff and peered into its depths. It wasn't so very long ago that he had stood here in a similar state of mind, the darkness and biting wind taking his breath away. /There's no physical Duo here to stop me this time...but it's harder than before. It's different now that he's let go./  
  
Let go. Was that the right way to think about it? Duo had faced his last moments with more courage than Heero ever thought he could have. It had occured to Heero more than once that he was indeed taking the coward's way out, and he sat down on the grass to stare into the blackness.  
  
Maybe he would wait until sunrise. That way he could see something beautiful before he went. Or maybe the new day might convince his addled brain what his heart was telling him, to get a hold of himself and go back to Quatre and Trowa and Wufei and pull through this together. Heero feverently wished he felt so, remembering what Duo had said to him: "Don't do anything you might regret." Despite those words etched in his memory and the fear clutching knots in his stomach, Heero's soldier's instincts were telling him one thing: 'You don't need this. You've broken, you're worthless. Best just rid the world of yourself before you endanger someone else's mission.' Deep in his heart Heero knew there was no truth there, just the mindless military indoctrination, and he should tell the Perfect Soldier to just shut the fuck up and listen to Duo's advice. Duo was almost never wrong...and the Perfect Soldier had erred many a time.  
  
Yet Heero still couldn't pull himself away from the cliff. He lay down in the grass and draped his hand over the edge, his other arm tucked under his chin. Eternity passed in the form of several long, drifting, maddeningly mindless hours.  
  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
  
  
What's he doing?  
  
//I'm afraid you already know...//  
  
Oh, God...  
  
//Yeah.//  
  
Isn't there...anything...  
  
//Anything you can do? I don't know. What are you?//  
  
What do you mean?  
  
//Are you strong enough for both of you?//  
  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
  
"Trowa..."  
  
"What?" Trowa lifted his head from his pillow and stifled a yawn.  
  
"Heero's gone." Quatre tapped his fingers nervously against the door frame. "I haven't seen him since late yesterday...we're going to look for him. Are you coming?"  
  
Trowa was suddenly very much awake.  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
  
  
Heero snapped back to reality as the first rays of sunlight appeared in the distance. "There it is."  
  
Duo had loved seeing the sunrise, if and when he ever got up in time for it. More than once his lover had sat pensively by the window after a long, weary night on a mission and waited for the sun to rise before going to bed. Heero admired its beauty, but preferred that of the sunset. But then again, Heero and Duo had many conflicting ideas--that was why they went so well together. The mere thought of Duo sent needles of ice through Heero's heart. /Ah, koi, it seems my resolve still was not lost./ Heero climbed wearily to his feet and gazed down at the crashing waves below.  
  
//////////////"Do we have to be up this high?"  
  
//////////////"Why not? You like heights."   
  
//////////////"It just makes me a little uneasy. Even you wouldn't survive a fall like that, and you've jumped off ten-storey buildings."  
  
//////////////"Hn. I'll stay away from the edge, I guess."  
  
//////////////"Good, koi. If you fell over that I might have to go over after you."  
  
//////////////"And wouldn't I do the same?"  
  
//////////////"Probably. But I wouldn't want you to. I wouldn't want either of us dead."  
  
The conversation with Duo again offered itself up for Heero's inspection. "Oh, Duo...you proved to be the stronger of us two, yet again..."  
  
//Do we have to be up this high?//  
  
"In the daylight, it looks higher," Heero assured the memory.   
  
//Hee-chan...//  
  
"Don't call me that." The memories of the last few days burned in Heero's soul. "Oh, Duo..."  
  
He stiffened and faced the sunrise. "Get a hold of yourself, Yuy." The cold mask of the soldier slipped from his face however, and Heero was left standing on the edge with clenched fists, tears streaming down his face.  
  
  
---------------------------  
  
//Such pain...//  
  
Please, you've got to tell me, what can I do!?  
  
//It's something I can't say. You have to figure this out on your own.//  
  
But...aren't you supposed to help me?  
  
//I *am* you. I am your heart of hearts, your willpower, your love, your strength. You can depend on me. You can look to me for the answers. But it's not the answers you're looking for now, it's yourself. It's a matter of putting two and two together.//  
  
Two and two together...  
  
//Once you make your decision, you'll know what to do.//  
  
  
---------------------------  
  
  
Heero looked fondly at the gold cross encircling his fingers before fastening it around his neck.   
  
  
---------------------------  
  
You're not helping!  
  
//I know.//  
  
Arrrg!  
  
//Confused?//  
  
Hell yes! I....I...  
  
//You...?//  
  
Jesus, the cliff!  
  
//Think fast.//  
  
Please! You've got to help!  
  
//I will...just bring us together...//  
  
Bring...us?  
  
//You and I were once one. Not that long ago. But as I said...death did not tear us apart at first, as we were bonded too strongly with each other and with him...but now the bond has been broken. Those traits that make you who you are are caught on one side, while the essence is on the other. They cannot exist apart. The essence should follow the strength, not the other way around, except for in very rare cases...//  
  
Yeah, keep going!  
  
//Your courage, your love, your *self*...possess that power of strength that we spoke of. I told you I beleived that those who stay behind have that resolve.//  
  
And I do?  
  
//You definitely do...elsewise we would not be having this discussion. You have to make the decision, and beleive in yourself...are you strong enough for all of us?//  
  
I...yes. Yes!  
  
//I thought as much.//  
  
How can I bring us together again?  
  
//All you need to do is not give up. Take my hand.//  
  
How? I can't see you. I can't see *me*...where am I?  
  
A pair of prussian eyes materialized in the darkness. "Death."  
  
"You...you're me." He stood alone in a world of pitch-black.  
  
The shadow extended a hand that he could not see but somehow knew was there. "As you are me."  
  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
The Japanese boy looked into the sparkling sunrise. "Wait for me, Duo."  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
He gripped the shadow's warm hand. "Now what?"  
  
The shadow nodded. "Now it's up to you."  
  
"But what do I--" a second pair of eyes, colbalt blue, appeared beside the first.  
  
"You already know. Be strong, strong enough for yourself and for him."  
  
He dropped the hand and reached for the second shadow.  
  
  
-------------------------  
  
  
Heero closed his eyes and stepped off the edge.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
------------------------  
Shi-chan: Many people will hate me for that. Including myself.  
Duo: You're a liar...you said it would take an hour...  
Shi-chan: I needed to reread the first few chapters!  
Duo: No, you needed to be chatting on AIM!  
Shi-chan: *While* rereading chapters!  
Duo: *sweatdrop*  
Shi-chan: More tomorrow...last chapter, minna-san....  



	30. The Final Choice....

Gundam Wing is not mine. Fortunately, this story is! But I dun' wanna infringe on copyrights or nothing, so let's just say that you own Duo, and I *own* Duo, and pretend this conversation never happened...what kind of a disclaimer is this anyway?! Bah!  
  
---------------------------  
SUNDAY:   
  
Shi-chan: Bloody cliffhangers! *Actual* cliffhangers! Anyway, I don't care if okaachan hides the keyboard for the next three MONTHS, I'm writing this chapter and I'm doing it NOW!  
Duo: Aren't we enthusiastic all of a sudden?  
Shi-chan: Yeah, well, I have two test tomorrow and I need sleep. And I am sure as hell not putting this off.  
Quatre: Then can we have a couple of nights off?  
Shi-chan: Maybe. I have Christmas shopping to do, so I might not have as much time for writing.  
All: Thank God...  
Shi-chan: Gee, you're so encouraging...on with the fic!  
---------------------------  
  
Death Becomes Him: The Final Chapter  
~By Shimegami-chan  
Part 30  
Everything that was in those other chapters, is probably here. Well, most of it anyway. .  
As for those voices, yeah, they're supposed to be utterly confusing. I got confused writing them. You're not supposed to be able to figure out who the two speakers are. Who did you think the voices were? I'd really like to know!  
Anyway, please read & review! This is the end, guys!  
  
  
  
He lunged for the shadows hand and barely managed to grasp its wrist. Suddenly that silky smooth baritone voice, so familiar, was back in his head.  
  
//You've got him.//  
  
Yet he still stood in the dark, cold place called Death. "Now what?"  
  
//Hold on tight.//  
  
He latched his other hand around the first. "Holdi--aargh!" the colbalt-eyed shadow's hand suddenly had all its weight on it and he jerked forward, still holding tight.  
  
The voice--his own voice--faded into a whisper in the back of his head. //Don't let him go, Duo. Don't let him slip away.//  
  
Duo nodded assent and held the blue-eyed shadow's hand.  
  
  
  
------------------------  
  
  
  
Heero expected his entire life to flash before his eyes, but all he could see was Duo, in his mind's eye, begging him not to do this, not to jump. Heero's resolve weakened slightly, but too late--  
  
his stomach heaved as the whole world dropped out from under him.  
  
  
------------------------  
  
  
"Shitshitshitshitshit!" Duo grunted and tightened his grip. "I can't hold him!"  
  
//And at last we reunite.//  
  
"What!?" Duo cried. "Didn't we do that already?"  
  
The black oblivian shattered into a thousand peices like a breaking mirror.  
  
  
--------------------  
  
  
Heero shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the sea to rush up and meet him. He could hear the waves crashing below, hear Duo's strangled cries, hear the blood pounding through his ears as he went through shock and regret and anger and disbeleif all at once. /That was stupid, Yuy. You idiot, you deserve to die./  
  
Yet the waves did not surge up to claim him.   
  
Pain radiated through Heero's body like a thousand stinging needles, his skin peppered with tiny stones. /Perhaps I'm already dead./  
  
His heart was in his throat. "Oh God, I'm so sorry...Duo..." Tears welled up behind his closed eyelids. "I'm so sorry..."  
  
"It's okay, it's okay..." Duo soothed him in some lost memory.  
  
The physical pain wasn't too much for Heero at all, but he felt as though his heart had been torn in half.   
  
"Hee-chan? Hee-chan?" Duo questioned at the back of his mind.  
  
"Gomen ne, Duo, so sorry...I should have listened to you..."  
  
"It's okay, Heero, really! But please..."  
  
"Duo..."  
  
"Oi, Heero-man...could you give me a little help here? At least *try* not to die for a couple of minutes?"  
  
"What?" Heero finally opened his blurred eyes and looked down. The unforgiving sea thrashed below him as if reaching out in anticipation, while Heero hung suspended in a moment in time.  
  
No, he was being suspended by something else, something that had bitten-off nails that dug painfully into the nerves below the skin on his arm. Heero looked up.  
  
/It can't be.../ Heero gazed into those same indigo eyes that had once stared so deep into his soul and had seen a person Heero never thought he was. The eyes were narrowed in intense concentration and looked like they might burst into tears at any moment.  
  
"D-Duo...?" Heero whispered shakily, lost in the violet eyes. His vision finally cleared enough to see a slim, fine-boned face, small nose, soft pink lips that called his name softly. Heero shook his head to clear the beautiful vision.  
  
"Heero. Hee-chan! I'm serious, I can't hold on much longer!" Duo persisted, a droplet of sweat running down his cheek. Heero finally jolted back to reality.  
  
He was hanging over the edge of the cliff by one arm, punctured by nail marks and blood streaming down, his body hanging limp. Duo had both hands clutched around Heero's right wrist, panting in exhaustion and anxiety, his black boots making enourmous furrows in the soft ground above. His upper body was mostly off the edge already, chestnut braid swinging maddeningly just out of Heero's reach.  
  
Heero tentatively raised his left hand up to meet his right, grasping Duo's wrist. Duo smiled through gritted teeth and dug his toes even furthur into the mud. "Come on, Hee-chan. You can do this."  
  
Heero reached out to grab the rocky face of the cliff and transferred some weight to that hand. Duo sighed in releif.  
  
For a skilled soldier such as he, the cliff should have been nothing at all to climb, but Heero was too stunned and tired to do more than just hang there. Duo gathered all his strength and muscled his lover's limp body up and toards him, past the danger point.  
  
Both boys collapsed on the wet ground, trembling in fear and exhaustion. This time Duo held Heero in *his* arms, gripping his cold hands tightly and whispering nonsense.  
  
"You-you can't be r-real." Heero stuttered, shivering.  
  
Duo pulled his lover close to him. "Shh, it's all right, I'm here, Hee-chan, go ahead and cry or freak or whatever."  
  
"Duo, please...I'm sorry..." Heero mumbled.  
  
"What for?" the violet eyes held nothing but love and excited relief.  
  
"I shouldn't have done that. I should have listened to you!"  
  
Duo brushed Heero's bangs away from his face. "We all make mistakes, Heero. Don't worry about it."  
  
/I'm forgiven./  
  
Heero collapsed, tears streaming from his eyes, against Duo's warm chest.  
  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
Quatre stared at the spectacle. "Oh, Allah..."  
Wufei grunted. "If only we could hear what they were saying."  
"All in good time." Trowa said calmly. "Duo's coming."  
  
  
----------------------------  
  
  
Duo gathered the Japanese boy's weight in his burning arms and stumbled over to where the three pilots stood. "What's up guys?"  
  
Quatre brushed moisture from his sparkling blue eyes. "Oh, Duo..."  
  
Both boys were a mess. Heero's clothing was rumpled and his hair wild, streaks of blood from the cuts on his arms had dried all over them both. Duo was covered in mud from the waist down, his braid was becoming unraveled, his face was covered with a fine sheen of sweat.  
  
"Are you okay?" Trowa queried.  
  
"Yeah, I think we're fine." Duo carefully passed his burden to Wufei. The Chinese boy grimaced at all the blood, but held Heero's weight close against his body.  
  
Quatre ducked under Duo's arm to help support him. "Let's head home, then."  
  
The American nodded in agreement.  
  
  
----------------------------  
  
  
"I still don't understand." Duo, dressed in fresh black clothes and his gold cross once again around his neck, kept a close watch on Heero.   
  
//No...but really, nobody does...//  
  
Heero moaned once and turned over, flinging a bandaged arm across Duo's pillow. Duo only half wanted to jump into the bed beside the Japanese pilot, instead he stayed steady on the chair and continued the conversation with the voice in his head. "Well, what do I do now?"  
  
//What do you *want* to do?//  
  
"Do I have a list of options, or something?"  
  
//Not really...it is so rare for a person to physically return to the other side that no one really knows the limit of what they can achieve. But I can tell you some.//  
  
"Um...okay, shoot." Duo bit the end of his cross nervously.  
  
//You can cross to the other side, if you desire...I still possess power enough to break that barrier. Most people, once they've had a taste of what's to come, simply don't *want* to remain. The other side promises happiness and contentment. It is said that mortals can never be truly happy in life, as that lingering feeling of doubt is always present. It is a sign of better things to come in the future. That doubt is gone, only happiness exists.//  
  
"If you've played your cards right."  
  
//Yes...that's true. But Duo, do you really believe that you don't deserve to be content?//  
  
Duo closed his eyes thoughtfully. "It's occured to me...more than once..."  
  
//One of the reasons why you could never feel at peace here.//  
  
"Because of the things I've been forced to do, the soldier's life I've led." The chestnut-haired pilot stared at his hands. They were shaking, just a little.  
  
//Right.//  
  
"I don't know if I could ever be happy there, though...are you trying to persuade me to just give up on life, or what?"  
  
//I'm not persuading you to do anything.//  
  
"You said you were a part of me."  
  
//I am. I am your courage, your strength, your resolve...//  
  
Duo rolled his eyes. "You're a goddamn split personality!"  
  
//And you're talking to yourself, genius.//  
  
This silenced the American for a few seconds. "Point taken. Keep talking, O-Conscience-Of-Mine."  
  
//You could stay here. I don't know what effects it would have on you, though...you have no body. You're still without a vessel, you can phase, you can fly, you can be seen only by those who know you well enough. I don't know what would happen after that: would you be Heero's guardian? Like an angel? Would you ever age? Perhaps once you were to choose to stay here you remained for eternity. You would watch your friends become old and die. That strength which brought you here would diminish with time, as life continued around you, and you were caught in the eternal guise of a young boy with death in his eyes and all around him. I don't know what would happen to you...it's never been done.//  
  
"I don't have a lot of great choices, do I?" Duo slumped back in his chair.  
  
//No...not really...//  
  
"What will become of you?" Duo asked curiously. "How did you come to be, anyway? I'm almost sure I never had a split personality before. Can I touch you, like I did when we stood in the darkness? Are you real, tangible?"  
  
//When we stood together in Death, it was because you were caught between the two worlds. You were too young to die, my friend. There was so much life left in you, so much love. You returned to this world first because of that love, because you sensed your lover in danger. You needed to protect him. Your spirit, your very *essence,* returned you to him with that will. I was a part of you then, there was no separation between us. I was you and you were me. However, once Heero was out of danger, we began to return to our final destination. Even though we didn't want to leave Heero, we *had* to. It wasn't a conscious decision, it was Fate. But Fate intervened again.//  
  
"Okay..." Duo wrapped the end of his braid around his wrist and rocked back and forth against the chair.  
  
//We stood between the two worlds. That was when we separated. You--the part of you that is Duo Maxwell--stopped yourself from passing through the border. Your soul was on on side, your essence on the other. You were the other. I stood on that fine line between the two worlds--you were being drawn by instinct to the other side, but I blocked that passage. Again, it wasn't conscious, I was being controlled by you, as it was supposed to be. When the essence separates from the spirit, the spirit moves on to the next world and the essence, the physical memories and feelings, are incorporated into something else. It depends on one's belief. But I--the will of Duo Maxwell--was so determined not to leave Heero's side that I could stand between both worlds and see everything. That was when you--the essence--regained control of yourself. No one has stood long enough at that borderline to ever do so. Duo...the roles were not reversed. But you felt my presence, and recognized it as your own, and that was when we began to communicate. The only difference between us then was that you saw what was happening to Heero through me, and I saw everything--Heero, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, the other side, angels above, demons below. When you took my hand you reclaimed me--your personality and your spirit came together again, and you were whole once more. You still stood in Death, but as you touched me you saw what I saw standing on that border, and it became real and tanglible again. You saw Heero's eyes in the darkness--he was the reason you did not rest in peace in the first place, too much pent-up anguish inside you both brought him to the cliff that day when you first returned. You reached for Heero, caught him as he fell--and that was when all hell broke loose. Duo, your courage and your will to live and your love for Heero *shattered* Death, you made your own conscious decision that this boy belonged to you and no other. You came back again, this time taking me with you, taking your soul back, joining them again. You became *whole* again. And you saved Heero from himself.//  
  
Duo sighed. "Are you going to be insulted if I say, 'I don't get it?'"  
  
//I would not be surprised. Trust me.//  
  
"All right." Duo rubbed his palms together absently. "If I--as you say--*absorbed* you, and we are one and always have been, why do I hear you talking in my head?"  
  
//Whose voice do you hear?//  
  
"My own, obviously." Duo sniffed in exasperation.  
  
//I said before, that you saw everything I saw.//  
  
"Yeah, you mentioned that."  
  
//When we came together, all those memories became yours.//  
  
"Uh-huh." Duo still wasn't understanding.  
  
//Duo...you remember our conversation in the darkness?//  
  
What was he getting at? "Of course."  
  
//You remember speaking with me.//  
  
"Yeah. But if we're together now..."  
  
//Duo...you remember the conversation, and assume I'm still here. But you hold all the knowledge I do. You're just imagining that I'm talking to you, because you know exactly what I'd say.//  
  
"Whaaaaaat?"  
  
//You've got a split personality, Duo.//  
  
"WHAAAAAAT?"  
  
//Well...not really. But why are you still talking as though you expect me to answer?//  
  
Duo rapped his knuckles against his head and considered the words carefully. Now that he thought about it, the other him might be right. He had distinct memories of seeing his own indigo eyes in the darkness, remembered standing on the edge of oblivion, even though both events had tranpired at the same time.  
  
//I get it...my brain was still trying to figure out why I had two sets of memories during those few minutes...I think.//  
  
Aloud, he said, "I don't really have a split personality, do I?"  
  
He imagined that the voice in his head would say, 'Look at you, you idiot, you're talking to yourself. What do you think?' But no response came, not even from his own lips. "Yosh! I think I understand now!"  
  
//One hurdle down. Although I probably could have worked this out a lot faster if I hadn't just spent half and hour talking to an imaginary voice in my head...// But what to do? //I want to stay here with Heero. But the consecquences of that decision don't sound so great.//  
  
He sighed. //I'm not gonna leave Heero. Not again. Not after all that.//  
  
Duo Maxwell folded him arms and stared at the wall, deep in thought. //I need a plan.//  
  
  
  
------------------------  
  
  
  
Quatre peeked into the room to find an interesting scene: Heero was curled up quietly on the bed, while Duo was passed out on top of it with one arm flung possessively over Heero. Duo was snoring softly.  
  
The little Arab gently slid the comforter out from under Duo and brought it up to the American's chin. Duo opened his eyes. "Q-man?"  
  
"Yes, it's me. I was just checking on you two. Has he woken up?"  
  
"No, nothing yet. He must be in shock. And he didn't sleep last night." Duo yawned and sat up. "What's going on downstairs?"  
  
"Nothing much. Wufei and Trowa are playing chess, I'm starting to get dinner ready. Are you going to eat?"  
  
"Hell yes. I'm starved." As if to prove his point, Duo's stomach made a loud rumbling noise. "Um, yeah. Maybe I'll grab a snack now anyway."  
  
The chestnut haired boy hopped out of the large bed, careful not to disturb his partner's slumber. The two young pilots headed down to the kitchen.  
  
"Are you going to tell me about it, Duo?" asked Quatre softly. "We're rather curious as to what's going on..."  
  
"I don't know yet," Duo confessed. "I have a few choices. I could...pass on...and go on to whatever lies for me there. Or I could stay here with you guys, but that wouldn't be good for long-term. I wouldn't age, I wouldn't change. You guys would grow up and grow old and pass away, and I'd be here for eternity or god-knows-how-long. Apparantly--" he swallowed. "--apparantly, not enough people have ever returned to this world from death for anyone to know much about it. And those who have returned accomplished what they came back to do, and then went on to the Other Side. No one's ever stayed behind before, willingly...it's too big a risk, and not worth it."  
  
Quatre smiled sadly. "I see what you mean."  
  
Duo phased his hand and passed it through the kitchen table. "Only those who know me well are able to see me...I don't think I need to possess them,--which I apparantly still can--but once the people I know and love leave this world, I'll be totally alone. No one will see or hear me, I'll just be wandering the earth and wishing I had died when I had the chance."  
  
"What will you do then?" Quatre put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Let yourself go?"  
  
"I'm not sure." Duo shot him the Maxwell grin. "But I'm not going anywhere right now. And there are still lots of possibilities out there that I haven't thought of yet." //Shinigami *always* has a plan...//  
  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
  
The clock struck midnight.  
  
He grunted and heaved the last shovelful of dirt over his shoulder. "That's it."  
  
The black-clad man used every ounce of strength he had to open the heavy wooden lid. What he saw inside made shivers run up and down his spine.  
  
It hadn't changed at all, even though the man had expected it to. It was starkly pale, yes, but that was understandable. Cold to the touch. He lifted the heavy object up without much difficulty and, handling it like it was glass, began to trudge away from the pile of dirt and the cold, unfeeling place. He hoped his hunch would prove correct--if not, he couldn't think of any other option.   
  
Protecting his treasure from the wind, he strode forward with only one goal in mind.  
  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
  
He snapped awake, alone in the dark.  
  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
*Bang bang bang*  
  
"Hai, I'm coming, I'm coming!" Sally Po stumbled out of bed and pulled on her bathrobe. *Bang bang bang*  
  
The knocking on her door continued relentlessly.  
  
"I said I'm COMING!" she yelled. It was way too late for this--or was it early? It must certainly be urgent for anyone to come to her house at this time.  
  
She unlocked the door and cautiously opened it to reveal a short man dressed in all black, clutching a body to his chest. The man's face was obscured by a motercycle helmet with the visor down.  
  
"Dr. Sally," a low, gruff voice said from under the helmet, "I need your help. Are you the one who treated this boy?"  
  
Sally gasped. "Oh my God!" The body the man held was none other then Duo Maxwell, gaunt and pale and lifeless. She fumbled for a weapon, any weapon, but could find none. The slight man however held a small pistol in his gloved hands, and he pointed it at her. "Answer me, please."  
  
"N-no." Sally stammered out. "I knew him, but I didn't treat him...who the hell are you!?"  
  
The man forced the door open with his foot, still pointing the gun at Sally. "I don't want to hurt you, I just need some questions answered...but if I tell you who I am and what I intend to do with Maxwell then I suspect you would not be able to help me. Now just step inside and let me put Maxwell down."  
  
Sally, fire blazing in her eyes, stepped back. "Tell me who you are! You're not Heero...are you?" /He flipped. Just like Quatre said. Shit. I knew they should have brought him in./  
  
"It's none of your concern. Right now, Maxwell is your concern." He carefully placed the stiff body on the couch. "I need questions answered."  
  
"What?" Sally growled.  
  
"He died because of a brain tumor. Am I right?"  
  
"Yes." That fact was common knowledge, Sally had read all the details of Duo's treatment. "He didn't even know it was there. He was in a coma...he was brain-dead."  
  
"Could he have survived the cancer if he hadn't gone into the coma?" questioned the man.  
  
"Possibly, yes." Sally said dubiously. "But he was gone before they had a chance to operate. They took him off the machines. He had no next of kin."  
  
Even through the mask and helmet, the man seemed to glower at Sally. "What drugs or chemicals or whatever did they use while they were treating him?"  
  
Sally looked at the body on her couch. "I can't say for sure...if he wasn't so pale, I would think he was just sleeping. Then again, he's only been--" she swallowed hard "--gone...a week. They probably used a thinner on him to keep his blood moving, maybe painkillers, I don't know, um--"  
  
"Thinner? Is that why he looks...like that?"  
  
Sally's eyes lingered on the body. "He had a small respirator implanted in him--his breathing reflex had stopped, but they weren't sure whether he was lost or not. I made sure that he had the best care possible...and Quatre spared no expense...so they put the respirator in him."  
  
"He looks like he's sleeping." The black clad man gazed at Duo's body. Sally shivered. Maybe it was Heero under there after all.  
  
"Is that all you wanted?" Sally was anxious to have the stranger out of her house.  
  
"Not quite." The man raised a hand to show that the pistol was still pointed at her. "This is going to sound nasty, and I know you don't do autopsies...but I'm not skilled enough to handle this." He removed a black bag from his shoulder and placed it on the coffee table. "Open it up, Doctor."  
  
Sally uneasily opened the bag, unsure of what she'd find. Inside were a pair of gloves and an assortment of sharp implements, medical tools. She sucked in a breath. "Wh-what?"  
  
The black man back away from Sally and stood against the wall, aiming the gun directly at her chest. "I need you take the tumor out of him."  
  
"WHAT!?" Sally stared at the man in horror. "No way!"  
  
"Do it, Doctor." the gruff voice suddenly turned very cold. "I won't hesitate to kill you if don't."  
  
"You're insane...you *are* Heero, aren't you!?" she accused, holding her shaking fingers far away from the bag.  
  
"Fine. I'm Heero. Now be good for me, Sally, and take it out."  
  
"No!" Sally cried defiantly.  
  
Heero fired a warning shot into the floor. Sally's knees went weak.  
  
"Do it."  
  
Sally reached for the bag and took out a scalpel. She tried not to pass out on the floor.  
  
"No sudden movements, now. Have you ever performed brain surgery before?"  
  
Sally nodded quietly.  
  
"Great. Well, it's not like he needs anthestetic or anything, so get going."  
  
"Heero...I wish you wouldn't do this..."  
  
Heero's low laugh was enough to scare her into actually turning Duo over onto his back and pulling the gloves on. "Heero..." she said quietly. "The others told me you were having problems with split personalities...so I'm not going to blame anything on you...but...this is..."  
  
"Perhaps I'm a necromaniac." the young pilot said quietly.  
  
"Heero..."  
  
"Get moving."   
  
Sally held the scalpel and gingerly made the first cut, not knowing what to expect. There was blood, but not much--his heart wasn't pumping it out anymore. Sally relinquished any thoughts about her grisly task and continued on in silence.  
  
  
Hours passed. Heero did not move an inch.  
  
  
It would have been a difficult operation--if Duo had been alive, Sally knew that what had just transpired would have certainly killed him. She had just performed major surgery on a dead body in her living room--the couch was covered in blood, her hands were covered in blood, and she was pale and sweating when she finally set the instruments back on the table.  
  
"I'll get you a new couch," he promised.  
  
She didn't reply.  
  
"Sally, I--thanks."  
  
"Heero...it's just....wrong..."  
  
He looked thoughtful. "You might be right. But I'm going on the off chance that I'm right. Do you--do you think you could clean some of the blood off him?"  
  
Sally wordlessly retrieved a cloth from the kitchen, Heero and his gun following her every movement.  
  
"Heero...what did you plan on using him for?" Sally began to mop the dark blood from the back of Duo's neck.  
  
Heero looked down, his feature still hidden behind the helmet. "I can't tell you that. Until I know what's going to happen."  
  
Sally was horrified. "Oh, God! Heero!"  
  
Heero's head shot back up in a panic. "No! Not *that!*"  
  
The young doctor was shaking in fear and disgust. "Oh, Heero..."  
  
"You'll see, if it works. Turn on the respirator."  
  
"What?!" Sally gaped at him. "Heero, he's gone already! Just because you can make his lungs take in oxygen doesn't mean you can--"  
  
"Do it." Heero snapped. "Now."  
  
The frightened woman opened Duo's shirt and found the little metal box. Gingerly she restarted the device. Duo's chest began to rise and fall.  
  
Heero breathed a sigh of relief at this. "Isn't technology wonderful? Thank God..." He lowered the pistol just a little bit.  
  
Sally glared daggars at him. "I can't beleive what you're doing."  
  
"Aren't I right though?" Heero stared in disbelief at the stiff form. "You took out the cancerous cells. If he had only woken up, wouldn't he have lived?"  
  
"He would have died in the operation." Sally retorted.  
  
"But he was already dead," Heero said, as though he was making perfect sense. He lowered the pistol.  
  
Sally chose that moment to grab the scalpel and lunge at Heero. "You BASTARD!"  
  
Heero brought the gun back up. "Sally! Don't do anything stu--shit!" he ducked and barely avoided the sharp implement.  
  
"I don't care if you shoot me, Heero, you need to get yourself under control! This is just *wrong!*"  
  
"You think--" he dove to the side "--that that didn't occur to me?" He pointed the gun back at her with trembling fingers, but he wasn't pulling the trigger.  
  
"You know I'm right!" she yelled, crashing into him. "And after what you just put me through, I see nothing wrong with me killing you!"  
  
She was holding the scalpel at his throat. "Now, Sally, don't overreact--"  
  
"DON'T OVERREACT!?" she screamed. "You just held me at gunpoint a second ago! Threatened my life! Threatened my *sanity*! And you say 'don't over-fucking-react!?'"  
  
"Sally! Get a grip!" Heero grabbed both her wrists in one swift move. The scalpel fell to the floor.  
  
Sally was sweating hard, but she wasn't crying. She glared at him angrily through the helmet. "I suppose you're going to kill me now."  
  
"It never even crossed my mind," he said softly, quietly. Too softly.  
  
She stared into the dark visor. He let go of her hands.  
  
The young doctor reached out with shaking fingers and gently lifted the helmet off the man's head, revealing expressive violet eyes and a long chestnut braid that tumbled over his shoulder as she pulled the helmet away.  
  
"Masaka...Duo..."  
  
"I'm so sorry, doc," he apologized hurriedly. "I didn't want you to freak until you finished the surgery. I just kind of let you think I was Heero."  
  
"Duo...that's impossible...how can you be there--" she looked at the body on the couch and then back at the braided American. "--and here? How can you be here at all?"  
  
Duo looked hard at Sally. "Sally, we saw each other just the other day. I explained what was going on."  
  
Sally shook her head. "Quatre called last night, looking for Heero. They told me you were dead and Heero was suicidal...that you had been forced to go on. I never imagined--"  
  
"It takes more than that to kill Death," Duo said proudly, extending a hand to help Sally to her feet. She accepted gratefully.  
  
"Why did I figure you'd say that?"  
  
Duo walked over to inspect his body. "God...I'm in bad shape..."  
  
"What do you plan on doing with it?"  
  
He pressed a finger to his lips. "You'll see. Either that, or this is good-bye for good." He pressed a hand against the cold forehead. "Could you get some blankets, please, Sally?"  
  
"Sure." She got several from the hallway closet.  
  
Duo nodded gratefully at her, than tossed her a mock salute. "See you around, Doc. Thanks."  
  
"What?" Sally stuttered. But Duo was already gone, vanished before her eyes. She ran over to the spot where he had stood.  
  
The body moved.  
  
Sally jumped in surprise. It--the thing on the couch--had let out a slight moan. It was shivering violently.  
  
"Oh my God. *That's* what he was doing."  
  
  
  
---------------------------  
  
  
  
Heero wandered throughout the dark house, searching for someone, anyone.  
  
Had the rescue at the cliff all been a dream?  
  
  
---------------------------  
  
  
Sally frantically heaped blankets on Duo's body, pausing only long enough to check for vital signs.  
  
It was breathing.  
  
Its heart was beating.  
  
It was *moving.*  
  
'It,' cracked open one glittering indigo eye. "Oi, Sally. Dammit, I'm freezing."  
  
"I can't believe you just did that..." Sally added the last blanket to the pile and Duo let out a small gasp. "Holy shit...it hurts..."  
  
"Brain surgery, Duo. And a rush job at that." Sally sat in a chair beside her friend.   
  
Duo coughed. "Sorry 'bout that..."  
  
"Fine, fine. God...I can't beleive this...there's no way this was possible...how did you *do* it?"  
  
Duo smiled in triumph. "I can possess people whenever I want...I just possessed myself and made everything start working again. I don't even know if I can come back out again, it feels like there are weights areound my legs."  
  
"Those are blankets, my friend."  
  
"I didn't mean literally." Duo shot her a grin. "I guess this is where I belong, where I'm supposed to be. Before, I had nowhere to go...but now that this body is alive, it's kind of anchoring me to it."  
  
"This is a good thing, right?" Sally looked at him worriedly.  
  
"All things considered, hell yes. It hopefully means that I won't be going anywhere anytime soon."  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
Where were they?  
  
Heero stumbled alone in the dark. "Duo...Quatre...anyone..."  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
"Rigor-freaking-mortis." Duo spat in frustration. "Gaah! Circulate, dammit!"  
  
"Give it some time, Duo." Sally laughed gently. "It's a really big shock. You've had major surgery, and restarted your heart and breathing. Hell, you had brain damage before, for all I know you're self-healing the neurons or something. It's incredible."  
  
"Buuut..." Duo whined. "I wanna go see Heero! I've gotta tell him that I'm not dead ya know."  
  
"At least wait until you can stand up!" Sally insisted.   
  
Duo stuck a hand out from under the blankets for her inspection.  
  
She touched it gently. "It's warming up. Blood flow's going again."  
  
"Gooooood..." Duo drawled. "Now for the legs..."  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
He staggered out the door and to one of the motorbikes.  
  
  
--------------------------  
  
  
"Can you stand?"  
  
"I'll try." Holding tightly to Sally's hand, Duo took a step. Pins and needles shot up his legs. "Shitshitshitshitshit..."  
  
The door burst open and Wufei ran in "Onna! Are you here?"  
  
He stopped dead. "Maxwell, you idiot! There you are!"  
  
Quatre and Trowa were only a few steps behind.  
  
"Duo!" Quatre seemd to nearly collapse with releif. "Thank Allah you're okay! When we couldn't find you, we went out looking, and you wouldn't beleive what we saw that the cemetary!"  
  
"Better than okay. And I'd beleive it." Duo grinned and shot a grateful look at Sally. "Thanks to the doc here, Shinigami just came back to life."  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
Heero stood alone at the gates of the dark graveyard. Hadn't he been standing here at Duo's funeral such a short time ago?  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
"If you waste your life now I will thoroughly kill you." Sally warned, shaking a finger at him.  
  
"Yeah, I know!" he laughed back, mounting the bike. "I'll see you guys later okay? I just have to clean up the mess I made."  
  
"Sure." Quatre happily agreed. "See you in the morning!"  
  
They parted ways.  
  
  
------------------------------  
  
He gently touched a dark petal to his fingertip.  
  
Black roses. Duo would have loved them.  
  
  
-----------------------------  
  
  
Duo stared at the headstone for a long time.  
  
--Duo Maxwell--  
--A.C. 180--A.C. 198--  
--Your smile will be missed, Shinigami.--  
  
  
It was simple. He suspected Heero or Wufei had been the source of the phrase, Quatre would have put something more poetic in. Duo gazed at the black marble stone.   
  
A branch snapped behind him and Duo looked up. A tall figure in black stood over him, eyes fixed on the tombstone, unruly brown hair hanging in his eyes. He stared, looking lost, at the empty grave. "He's gone."  
  
Duo got to his feet and took the other pilots hand, pressing it over Heero's heart. "Not gone...he's right here."  
  
"Cliche." Heero couldn't see past the black visor on his helmet, trying to discern who was inside.  
  
"And right here." Duo moved the hand to his body and pressed it to his heart.   
  
Time seemed to stop. Heero reached hesitatingly for the helmet and lifted it carefully from Duo's head.  
  
"It wasn't a dream..." Heero said in relief.  
  
"No." A grin appeared on Duo's face. "And I'm not leaving you again, not ever."  
  
Heero looked questioningly at the empty coffin, the lonely grave. "But...your body..."  
  
"Right before your eyes, koi." Duo embraced his lover. "Watch out for the stitches, I just had brain surgery."  
  
Heero's eyes widened and he peered at the back of Duo's neck. "You mean--"  
  
"I just took some good advice...and 'put two and two back together.' I got that second chance, Hee-chan. Sally took the tumor out; and I'm gonna be as good as new."  
  
Heero's eyes had begun to well up with tears. "Oh, Duo..."  
  
Duo leaned forward to kiss him. "No need to cry."  
  
"I think we both got our second chance," Heero whispered around the kiss.   
  
"Hai. But don't ever let me catch you on that cliff. Ever."  
  
Heero nodded an affirmitive.  
  
"And it's a promise this time right?"  
  
//Well, well, well. Looks like we got what we wanted, hey?//  
  
A little crude, but creative.  
  
//Sometimes life's like that.//  
  
You mean, sometimes *death's* like that.  
  
//Morbid.//  
  
Duo shook off the offending thoughts and concentrated on kissing Heero and reveling in being alive.  
  
"Hai, it's a promise!"  
  
And damn--being alive felt good.  
  
  
  
  
  
~Owari!  
  
  
Shi-chan: Never thought it would end, did you? I don't know if I like the ending yet...may have to rewrite it....  
Duo: That chapter was so friggin' long.  
Shi-chan: I need sleep! It's 5 a.m.!  
Duo: Baka yarou!  
Shi-chan: Well...owari, and oyazume, or whatever, but I hope you enjoyed the fic, and good night!  
Duo: Ja ne!  
  



	31. Epilogue--Stepping Into Darkness

Gundam Wing is not mine. Fortunately, this story is! But I dun' wanna infringe on copyrights or nothing, so let's just say that you own Duo, and I *own* Duo, and pretend this conversation never happened...what kind of a disclaimer is this anyway?! Bah!  
  
---------------------------  
TUESDAY, JANUARY 23/2001:   
  
Shi-chan: It's been a little over a month since I finished this series, and I promised I'd have a sequel...this is almost a sequel, almost a stand-alone epilogue...and... *trumpets can be heard* I wrote this in honor of being my 100th story on fanfiction.net! I think I need better ways to spend my time, don't you?   
---------------------------  
  
  
Death Becomes Him: Stepping Into Darkness (Part 30a)  
  
HAPPY 100 TO ME! WHOO-HOO! *coughs* And I only started writing in December...(well, it was the 1st of December, sooo...but hey, that's 55 days of fanfic goodness! Perhaps I need a social life.) Yep, 1/3 of my posted stories may be parts of Death Becomes Him...but it's 100 nonetheless, and I had to do something to celebrate! This seems to be my most popular peice--and with good reason, it's the one I enjoyed writing most--so I hope you all enjoy it!   
  
~By Shimegami-chan  
  
Music: "I'm Your Friend," from Gundam Wing  
  
Everything that was in those other chapters, is probably here. Well, most of it anyway. .  
Enjoy, minna-san!  
  
  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place about 25 years after the events in "Death Becomes Him."  
  
  
Deux watched the pale form in the hospital bed worriedly, running a hand along his brow. "Otousan?"  
  
Heero opened his eyes and blinked sleepily at her. "Deux...I think this is it for me..."  
  
"No!" Deux cried, burying her face in his shirt. "Otousan, please! Don't go!"  
  
"You're a big girl, hon...be strong for me, okay?" He looked so pale and gaunt, he barely resembled the man who had raised her from age five. Stroking her chestnut braid with slim fingers, Heero Maxwell-Yuy looked lovingly into his daughter's violet eyes. "Duo..."  
  
Deux blinked away tears and ran to a chair on the other side of the bed. "Papa! Papa, wake up!"  
  
Amethyst eyes shot open and Duo sat straight up. "Deux? What's wrong?"   
  
The young woman nodded at Heero. "Otousan..."  
  
Duo jumped to his feet and hurried to Heero's side. "Hee-chan? Daijobu-ka?"  
  
Heero's looked up at his partner and smiled sadly. "I had to wake you up...to say goodbye."  
  
"No, Heero," Duo whispered. "It's not goodbye, never goodbye...I can't stay here, when you're gone..."  
  
Heero struggled into a sitting position and touched his lips to Duo's. "I'll wait for you, however long it takes, my love. You don't need to come now, it's not your time."  
  
"Ah, koi." Duo deepened the kiss and pulled away long enough to look into Heero's colbalt eyes. "My time came twenty years ago, it's up to me to decide whether to follow Fate now."  
  
Heero leaned over to give Deux a fierce hug. "Take care of yourself."  
  
"I will, Otousan," she promised, wiping away tears.   
  
He touched her face gently and lay back on the pillow, colbalt eyes finding violet once again. "I love you, Duo. Sayonara."  
  
"I love you too. Ja ne, for now..." Duo choked back the thick emotion in his voice and willed himself to hold the prussian gaze until Heero finally smiled sadly and closed his eyes. To his left, the heart moniter let out a whine, and doctors rushed into the room in hopes of reviving the fallen ex-pilot. Duo led his daughter out of the room and to a waiting room full of hard-backed chairs, quite empty at this time of night. Deux hugged Duo tightly. "Papa...are you really going with him?"  
  
Duo looked thoughtful. "It's a hard decision. I never would have thought I'd have to decide like this again." Deux knew all about her father's brush with Death in his youth, how he had come back to life to be with Heero. How could she not, when Duo didn't look a day over twenty-five years old, and his soulmate had just died at the still-young age of fourty? They had been forced to explain the situation to Deux as soon as she had been old enough to understand it, farfatched as the story was. She beleived them, of course, the evidence was right before her eyes: Duo had the ability to walk through walls and could sprout devilish-looking leather wings from his back at will, not to mention his slowed aging. When Deux was younger Duo had been petrefied that his daughter was going to be the same age as he was if he didn't hurry up. Heero had joked that if Deux had come into their lives any earlier, she might even be the same age as her father! Both Deux and Heero's jokes had long ago stopped bothering Duo, and Heero's amazing physical shape had kept his own age well, so soon the point became moot. Even if at twenty-one years of age people still thought she was dating her eternally young parent.  
  
Deux herself thought it was much more flattering when people mistook her and Duo to be brother and sister, sometimes even twins. She had peircing indigo eyes and long chestnut hair that she had been braiding since she was six, so her hair was 'just like Papa's.' Duo's own braid hung to his knees where Deux's was just past her waist, but the resemblance was uncanny. It was the similarities to Duo that had first made Heero Maxwell-Yuy notice her, a street child in one of the bigger cities of L2. Though she had only been five years old at the time Deux still remembered that day well, when a blue-eyed kindly stranger had offered to buy her some food. She had been on the streets so long that she couldn't remember being anywhere but there. Heero had taken her to a resteraunt and then was so intrigues by her that he brought her back to his apartment for the night. She had no name, and Heero creatively called her "Chibi-chan,"...and when Duo Maxwell came home that night, he found his lover watching TV in the living room with the five-year-old bundle of energy in his lap. Duo had fallen instantly in love with the little girl, and Deux herself got attached to the amethyst-eyed ex-pilot almost as quickly. The next day, neither boy could bring himself to take Deux back 'home,' or to the local orphanage. Not long after, Heero and Duo had tied the knot, and as soon as the official papers were in his hand Duo had marched out and put in a request to officially adopt Deux as his and Heero's child. Deux had been thrilled. She had called Heero 'Otousan,' and Duo 'Papa,' since she had moved in with them, but now it was going to be for real! Only a few months later she officially became "Deux Maxwell-Yuy," a name of her own choosing, after the adopted father that she so much resembled. Duo's violet eyes had shone with pride when she announced that they couldn't called her "Chibi-chan," any more.  
  
Deux's childhood from then on was better than she would have ever dreamed. She attended school at Heero's request, and Duo glumly admitted that it would be for her own good. Her parents provided her with anything she wanted, but Deux was definitely a "go-getter," and worked hard for all her achivements. She wrote stories and played the violin, and her parents' friends came to visit sometimes for her concerts, as Duo constantly boasted to his close friend Quatre about his talented daughter. Quatre and his life partner Trowa visited often, as did Chang Wufei and his wife Sally, more friends of her parents. All four of them, along with Relena Peacecraft-Dorlian, were staying at the orphanage tonight, waiting for news on Heero's condition. Quatre and Trowa had generously offered to run the orphanage while Heero, Duo, and Deux were busy; the small shelter was Duo's lifelong dream and pride and joy. Quatre's finances kept the place going most of the time, and Relena helped out when they needed a little extra. The Peacecraft loved to visit the shelter that Duo and Heero had worked so hard to build, playing with the kids that lived there, occasionally taking on the job of cook that Deux had played since she was old enough to take part in the family legacy. Unfotunately Relena's kitchen skills weren't exactly shining, and Deux still wondered how the orphans had eaten until she started to help out--neither of her parents could cook to save their lives, and until Trowa had given her lessons she hadn't known either. Duo joked sometimes that culinary supremacy ran in the Maxwell blood, even though Deux wasn't his biological child--and Heero later commented that that was probably why Deux was so much more skilled in the kitchen than her father. Duo hadn't heard that comment, but Deux suspected that he knew anyway--her parents shared an inexplicable bond that she envied, despite how much they argued and joked anyone could see how much they truly loved each other. She had thought nothing could break the connecion Heero and Duo Maxwell-Yuy shared, not even death. Now they were really putting it to the test--Heero lay dying or dead not twenty feet away, his life drained by a stupid disease that had no cure and that neither Deux nor Duo could accurately pronounce.   
  
Duo looked at his adopted daughter, brushing tears from her cheeks. "My little Chibi-chan..."  
  
"Papa!" she laughed despite her tears. "You said you wouldn't call me that! I'm twenty-one and twice as big as you!"  
  
"No way. You're shorter than me still, Little One." His face softened. "It's a little scary to think that I might not see you get any bigger than that."  
  
Deux sucked in a breath. "If you...well...I probably won't get any taller anyway," she finished lamely.  
  
Duo laughed. "I came back just for him, you know...when we were even younger then you. I'd follow him anywhere, my Hee-chan." His eyes clouded. "I'd follow him into death. I promised him that after I followed him into life."  
  
"If you need to go, Papa, than that's what you have to do."  
  
"That's my Deux. But now I have other things to live for, don't I? It's harder than it was twenty years ago." He wound his chestnut braid around his wrist.   
  
"Papa, I want you to stay," she said firmly, her resolve starting to weaken, "But you need to go to Otousan. You promised. You never lie."  
  
"You're right, Little One." He smiled sadly. "I...I guess it's time then, ne?"  
  
She nodded, hot tears spilling from her eyes.  
  
"Take care of the orphanage," he whispered, "and take care of yourself. Say good-bye to Quatre and Trowa and Wu-chan for me...no, wait, just tell them I'll see them around. I'll be watching out for all of you, you hear me?" Tears were leaking from his own amethyst eyes now, and spilling into Deux' chestnut hair. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too," she replied. "Good bye."  
  
"See you around, Chibi, my Deux." he closet his violet eyes and sagged against her, his slight weight going limp in her arms. He looked more than ever like a lost child now, his head leaning against her shoulder, breath leaving his body for the last time.   
  
The world seemed to close in around Deux. In Heero's room the heart moniter's whine had been silenced .Duo's own heart had stopped beating, the respirator that had once helped him breathe having been removed decades before. Deux reached for Duo's hand and squeezed it gently. "See you around."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
//Here we are again, eh?//  
  
I guess so.  
  
//Are you ready? You're moving on?//  
  
So it seems. So, are you real now? Or are you just a figment of my imagination?  
  
//That's up for you to decide, Duo Maxwell. It's a matter of putting two and two together.//  
  
Doesn't *that* sound familiar.  
  
A pair of amethyst eyes materialized in the darkness, and suddenly Duo could see. He was standing in a room of purest black, the place called Death, and before him stood two people he knew very well. The first was himself, his younger self, not all the different from his physical form now but clad in a black ensemble and a white priest's collar. On his left stood Deux, tears running from her eyes. She reached out and grasped his hand, squeezing it, and hugged him fiercely. Duo smiled and returned the hug, before reaching up to his neck to unclasp the gold cross resting there. He fastened it around her neck. Ja ne, Deux.  
  
"See you around." She was gone as suddenly as she appeared, and Duo and his younger shadow stood alone again.   
  
//Are you ready?//  
  
What kind of a question is that?  
  
//Take my hand.//  
  
Duo stretched out to touch his fingertips to his double's, and the other Duo closed his violet eyes serenely. /Put two and two together.../ He smiled and vanished, leaving Duo standing alone again, only this time the world was white. Heero was a few feet away, sitting against one of the white walls, fast asleep. Duo left the darkness behind him and went to be beside his lover.  
  
Duo knelt beside Heero and kissed his eyelids gently until the violet gaze met colbalt. "You came." Heero said softly.  
  
"I promised." Duo put his hand over Heero's heart, and then on his own.   
  
"I waited for you, love," Heero whispered finally.  
  
"I know." Duo brought their lips together again. "And this time, it's forever."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~OWARI!  
  
  
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Shi-chan: Hope you all liked. This story still has potential, although if I start to overkill it someone let me know. HAPPY 100 TO ME!!!!!! Yatta! *grabs Duo and twirls him around* Whoo-hoo!  
Seki: And that's the end of a sad but true story. *bows her head*  
Shi-chan: That's something my otousan used to say. *smiles*  
Seki: Hai! *glomps Duo and Shi-chan and all the readers* Yaaaaay!  
  
  
  



End file.
